fleck

Etymology

From Middle English *flekk, *flekke (attested in Middle English flekked (“spotted, flecked”)), from Old Norse flekkr (“spot”), from Proto-Germanic *flekka-. Cognate with Dutch vlek, German Fleck, Swedish fläck.

noun

1. A flake.
   two flecks of Lard cut with your knife 1675, William Rabisha, The Whole Body of Cookery Dissected, Taught and Fully
2. A lock, as of wool.
   With teeth they smooth their work, as on it slips, And flecks of wool stick to their wither'd lips 1861, Theodore Martin, The poems of Catullus, translated into English verse
   A single fleck of wool from his sock got caught on a splintery floorboard and that was enough to convict him. 2015, Graham Masterson, Eye for an Eye: A Katie Maguire Short Story
3. A small spot or streak; a speckle.
4. A small amount.
   a fleck of hope
   a fleck of imagination

verb

1. (transitive) To mark (something) with small spots.