freckle

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sp(h)er(e)g-, *(s)pregʰ-“to sprinkle, strew”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*sprekalą“freckle”
3. Old Norse · derived fromfreknur pl
4. Middle English · inherited fromfracle
5. English todayfreckle

The noun is derived from Late Middle English fracle, frekel, frekle (“freckle; pimple; fleck of colour in a stone”), a variant of frakne, freken (“freckle; other skin blemish”) (whence frecken (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) freckle”)), from Old Norse freknur pl (compare Faroese frøknur, Danish fregner, Swedish fräknar), an s-less variant of Proto-Germanic *sprekalą (“freckle”) (compare Middle High German spreckel, dialectal Norwegian sprekla), from Proto-Indo-European *sp(h)er(e)g-, *(s)pregʰ- (“to sprinkle, strew”). Doublet of spark, sprack, and spry. The verb is derived from the noun. cognates * Albanian fruth (“measles”) * Old English sprecel

Words from the same roots