# freckle

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfɹɛkəl/ · frequency rank #62,151

## Definitions
1. A small brownish or reddish pigmentation spot on the surface of the skin.
2. Any small spot or discoloration.
3. A small sweet consisting of a flattish mound of chocolate covered in hundreds and thousands.
4. The anus.

## Etymology
From Middle English freken, frekel, from Old Norse freknur pl (compare Faroese frøknur, 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.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/freckle