mottle

Etymology

1670-80. Probably back-formation from motley.

verb

1. To mark with blotches of different color, or shades of color, as if stained; to spot; to maculate.
   Between the grey mist of rainclouds the sun suddenly appeared to mottle the wet asphalt of Marble Arch in patches of silver and ebony. 1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XXII, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 214

noun

1. (countable) A distinguishing blotch of colour.
2. (countable, uncountable) A mottled or spotted pattern.
   The most common symptom is a mild mottle on the youngest leaves of infected plants.
   SLRSV, being mostly latent in strawberries and other fruit crops, is of very minor importance. It can cause some mottle and decline in certain strawberry cultivars. 1992, Quarantine Pests for Europe, Wallingford, Oxfordshire: CAB International, page 972