freckle

Etymology

From Middle English freken, frekel, from Old Norse freknur pl (compare Swedish fräknar, Danish fregner), s-less variant of Old English sprecel from Proto-Germanic *sprekalą (“freckle”) (compare dialectal Norwegian sprekla, Middle High German spreckel), from Proto-Indo-European *sp(h)er(e)g- (“to strew, sprinkle”). Cognate with Albanian fruth (“measles”). More at spark. Related to spry, sprack.

noun

1. A small brownish or reddish pigmentation spot on the surface of the skin.
   Steve has brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles on his cheeks and nose.
   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 Jane
2. Any small spot or discoloration.
3. (Australia) A small sweet consisting of a flattish mound of chocolate covered in hundreds and thousands.
4. (Australia, slang) The anus.

verb

1. (transitive) To cover with freckles.
2. (intransitive) To become covered with freckles.