Link Centre Dictionary

speck

UK/spɛk/ US/ˈspɛk/ uncommon
noun (3) verb (1)

noun

1.

a very small spot

  • “the plane was just a speck in the sky”
Synonyms
2.
3.

a slight but appreciable addition

  • “this dish could use a touch of garlic”
Synonyms

verb

1.

produce specks in or on

  • “speck the cloth”

Origin

From earlier specke, spycke (probably reinforced by Dutch spek, German Speck), from Middle English spik, spyk, spike, spich, from Old English spic (“bacon; lard; fat”), from Proto-West Germanic *spik, from Proto-Germanic *spiką (“bacon”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Späk, Dutch spek, German Speck, Icelandic spik.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.