freckle en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈfɹɛkl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈfɹɛk(ə)l/ (General-American)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
The noun is derived from Late Middle English fracle, frekel, frekle (“freckle; pimple; fleck of colour in a stone”), a variant of frakne, freken (“freckle; other skin blemish”) (whence frecken (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) freckle”)), from Old Norse freknur pl (compare Faroese frøknur, Danish fregner, Swedish fräknar), an s-less variant of Proto-Germanic *sprekalą (“freckle”) (compare Middle High German spreckel, dialectal Norwegian sprekla), from Proto-Indo-European *sp(h)er(e)g-, *(s)pregʰ- (“to sprinkle, strew”). Doublet of spark, sprack, and spry. The verb is derived from the noun. cognates * Albanian fruth (“measles”) * Old English sprecel
Meanings
-
A small brownish or reddish pigmentation spot on the surface of the skin.
The rabbits came out from their burrows to peep, / The wind whispered, "Hush! little Jane's gone to sleep!" / And the spiders came spinning a curtain of lace, / Lest the sun should make freckles on Jane's pretty face.
c. 1920s-1930s, Charlotte Druitt Cole, Runaway JaneSteve has brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles on his cheeks and nose.
Nurse Cramer had a cute nose and a radiant, blooming complexion dotted with fetching sprays of adorable freckles that Yossarian detested.
1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171:
- Any small spot which has a different colour from its background.
- (Australia) A small sweet consisting of a flattish mound of chocolate covered in hundreds and thousands.
- (Australia, slang) The anus.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| freckles | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
freckleless · frecklesome · smelly freckle · banana freckle · freckly · freckleface · frecklish · a hair past a freckle
Synonyms
dirt · ephelis · lentigo · freck
Translations (105)
th กระ (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · mn сэвх (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · es peca (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · gag çil (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · fr tache de rousseur (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · ga breicne (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · tyv секпил (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · ota چل (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · cmn 斑點 /斑点 (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · nb fregne (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · ro pistrui (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · gl lantinxa (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · crh sepkil (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · vi tàn nhang (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · kk секпіл (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · ca piga (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · uk весня́нка (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · bg луничка (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · sl pega (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · it efelide (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · inh тӏаьд (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · es efélide (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · de Fleckchen (any small spot) · ja そばかす (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · bo སྨེ་ཐིག (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · cy sbot haf (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · oc tessèla (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · et tedretähn (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · eo lentugo (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · uk ластови́нка (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · arz نمش (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · he נֶמֶשׁ (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · da fregne (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · io lentigino (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · pl pieg (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · lb Speechelen (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · km អាចម៍រុយ (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · tk sepgil (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · gl marxa (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · it lentiggine (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · hy պեպեն (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · tl pekas (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · bo གྲོ་ཐིག (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · pt sarda (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · ba һипкел (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · rue пі́стріґ (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · be вясну́шка (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · hu szeplő (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · uz sepkil (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · nl sproet (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · es lentigo (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · cs piha (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · gl marxa (any small spot) · fi täplä (any small spot) · gd breac-sheunain (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · fa کک و مک (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · eu orin (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · mk лу́ничка (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · cmn 雀斑 (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · de Sommersprosse (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · az çil (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · el φακίδα (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · fi kesakko (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · aeb نمش (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · id bintik (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · af sproet (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · ja 雀斑 (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · nog сепкил (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · et tedretäht (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · la lentigo (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · sv fräkne (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · fi teerenpilkku (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · ko 주근깨 (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · sah эбир (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · cop ⲁⲣϣⲁⲛ (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · tr çil (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · xal севг (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · vo feelid (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · sk peha (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · ky сепкил (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · gl penca (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · izh pääsönpisama (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · cy brych (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · ka ჭორფლი (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · fo frøkna (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · sh pega (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · fi pisama (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · sh пјега (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · ar نَمَش (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · lt strazdana (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · sh pjega (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · lv vasaras raibums (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · is frekna (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · ru весну́шка (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · tt сипкел (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · nrf tav'lîn (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · alt сепкил (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · fi pilkku (any small spot) · la lenticula (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · nn frekne (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · gl lentixa (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · sh пега (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · mnc ᠮᡝᡵᠰᡝᠨ (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · grc ἔφηλις (small pigmentation spot on the skin) · xal заарг (small pigmentation spot on the skin)