speckle
/ˈspɛkəl/noun, verb
speckle is spelled S-P-E-C-K-L-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 72,332nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, speckle means “A small spot or speck on the skin, plumage or foliage” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of speckle is speckles.
How many letters and syllables are in speckle?
| Letters | 7: S-P-E-C-K-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 72,332nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is speckle?
Speckle appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 72,332nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce speckle?
- /ˈspɛkəl/
Speckle has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-speckle.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of speckle
- speckles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- speckling participle, present
- speckled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does speckle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small spot or speck on the skin, plumage or foliage.
- 2
The random distribution of light when it is scattered by a rough surface.
- 3
ScotlandKind; sort.
- 4
A cluster of interchromatin granules in a nucleus.
verb
- 1
To mark with speckles.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Speckle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense small spot:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Fleck, Sprenkel |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does speckle come from?
The noun is from Middle Dutch spekkel; the verb was later coined from the noun, in the late 16th century.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).