Added 9 October 2026
freckle
/ˈfɹɛkl̩/ noun
In Latin: lentigo, lenticula Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about freckle at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
verb
Origin
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
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)