spreckle

English

Alternative forms

• sprackle

Etymology 1

From Middle English sprekle, from Old English sprecel, spreccil, from Proto-West Germanic *sprekl, from Proto-Germanic *sprekla-, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, spread, sprinkle, scatter”).

Noun

spreckle (plural spreckles)

1. (now chiefly dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A speck, spot, speckle; freckle.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *spreklen (suggested by past participle sprekled), from the noun above.

Verb

spreckle (third-person singular simple present spreckles, present participle spreckling, simple past and past participle spreckled)

1. (transitive, intransitive, now chiefly dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To speckle; to become spotted or speckled.