speck

Meaning

Noun

1. A tiny spot or particle, especially of dirt.
2. A very small amount; a particle; a whit.
3. A small etheostomoid fish, Etheostoma stigmaeum, common in the eastern United States.

Verb

To mark with specks; to speckle.

Synonyms

spot

dot

point

grain

particle

stain

fleck

speckle

blot

mote

pip

jot

smear

mark

bit

blemish

granule

trace

smirch

soupcon

splotch

pinch

pinpoint

slur

tinge

touch

atom

hint

macula

smudge

molecule

besmirch

moil

mite

blur

sperm

spark

smut

seed

semen

mottle

sully

corpuscle

morsel

patch

period

pit

point out

punctuate

scintilla

score

scum

shred

small piece

smattering

smidgen

snip

soil

sprinkling

squall

stigma

tad

taint

tally

teach

tincture

trifle

vertex

discolorise

discolorize

discolourise

only a little

only one

small amount

small bit

subatomic particle

train-oil

fat meat

punctum

bright spot

spot of reflected light

stop

🛑

freck

atomic

bacon

🥓

bedaub

bemire

besmear

blip

blotch

blubber

brand

colour

comma

crumb

crumbling

dab

dapple

dash

💨

defile

degrade

dirtiness

discrepancy

dit

dots

drop

droplet

💧

elementary particle

fault

film

📽️

filth

flaw

full point

full stop

glimpse

grime

hot spot

hours

imbrue

inclusion

little

maculation

macule

marking

minim

Pronounced as (IPA)

/spɛk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: spekke

Inherited from Old English: specca

Cognate with Low German: spaken

Inherited from Middle English: spik

Inherited from Old English: spic

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: Späk

Cognate with Dutch: spek

Cognate with German: Speck

Cognate with Icelandic: spik

In summary

From Middle English spekke, from Old English specca (“small spot, stain”), from the same ultimate source as Proto-Germanic *sprakô (“spark”). Cognate with Low German spaken (“to spot with wet”).