freck
/fɹɛk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.15 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Synonym of freckle (“a small brownish or reddish pigmentation spot on the surface of the skin; any small spot which has a different colour from its background”).
verb
Chiefly followed by with.
verb
Chiefly followed by with.
adj
Often followed by for or to: eager to do something; also, quick to act when an opportunity arises; prompt.
Archaic
Example Sentences
- "The eggs [of the pine grosbeak] vary much, both in size and colouring; […] ground-colour pale blue-green, blotched and streaked with light purple and burnt umber spots and frecks; […]"
- "There ſhee a bloodleſſe Statue ſate, all freckt; / Her ſpotted minde the Marble did infect."
- "The tufted Crovv-toe, and pale Geſſamine, / The vvhite Pink, and the Panſie freakt vvith jeat, / The glovving Violet."
- "Sables, of gloſſy black; and dark-embrovvn'd, / Or beauteous freakt vvith many a mingled hue, / Thouſands beſides, the coſtly pride of courts."
- "The painted windows, frecking gloom with glow, / Dusking the sunshine which they seem to cheer, / Meet symbol of the senses and the soul; […]"
- "The sky's unresting cloudland, […] / [N]ow parcelling the icy inane / highspredd in fine diaper of silver and mother-of-pearl / freaking the intense azure; […]"
Etymology
The noun is a clipping of freckle (noun). Freckle is derived from frecken (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) freckle”)), from Late Middle English fracle, frekel, frekle (“freckle; pimple; fleck of colour in a stone”), a variant of frakne, freken (“freckle; other skin blemish”) from Old Norse freknur pl, an s-less variant of Proto-Germanic *sprekalą (“freckle”), from Proto-Indo-European *sp(h)er(e)g-, *(s)pregʰ- (“to sprinkle, strew”). The verb is a clipping of freckle (noun) or freckle (verb).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /fɹɛk/
- British English: /fɹɛk/
Usage
Inflected Forms
frecks (plural)
frecks (present, singular)
frecking (participle, present)
frecked (participle, past)
frecked (past)
freak (alternative)
more freck (comparative)
most freck (superlative)
frack (alternative)