▪ I. fleck, n.1
(flɛk)
[Not found before 16th c.; though the related fleck v. and flecked ppl. a. occur earlier; adopted from or cognate with ON. flekkr (Sw. fläck, MDa. flække), corresponding to MDu. vlecke fem. (Du. vlek fem., neut.), MLG. vlecke fem., vlek neut., OHG. flec(ch, fleccho, blow, mark of a blow, speck, spot, place (MHG. vlec, vlecke, mod.Ger. fleck, flecken speck, spot, hamlet):—OTeut. *flekko-, -kon-. Cf. the derivative Ger. flicken to patch.
The ulterior affinities are somewhat obscure; some of the senses strongly suggest connexion with flake n.1 and the OAryan root plā̆g- or plā̆k- to strike; but the root vowels seem to belong to different ablaut-series. Further, the sense ‘patch’, found in continental Teut., points to connexion with ON. fl{iacu}k patch, rag, the form of which implies ī̆ (neither e nor a) as the root vowel. Possibly two distinct OTeut. words have coalesced.]
1. A mark in the skin; a blemish, freckle, spot; also, a sore or abrasion of the skin.
| 1598 Florio, Varo, a fleck, or freckle in ones face. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 377 The greace of a swan is commended.. for to cleanse the skin of the face from all flecks and freckles. 1695 Kennett Par. Antiq. s.v. Flesche-Axe, Fleck is..a sore in the flesh, from whence the skin is rubbed off. 1866 Swinburne Poems & Ball., Laus Ven. 4 Her neck..wears yet a purple speck..fairer for a fleck. 1889 N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., Them harvist-bugs hes maade big flecks cum oot all oher my airms. |
| fig. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lii, Fret not..That life is dash'd with flecks of sin. 1879 Hesba Stretton Needle's Eye I. 196 There was not a fleck upon his reputation. |
b. A patch, spot, or streak of colour, light, etc.
| 1804 Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1846) VI. 120 They have been badly painted..as it is all run in flecks. 1849 Longfellow Building Ship 89 Shadows..broken by many a sunny fleck. 1863 Macm. Mag. Jan. 172 The universal blue from Earth to Heaven was filled with flecks of fire. 1863 Baring-Gould Iceland 208 The red gable of Hlitharfyall..with a fleck of white on its apex. 1889 N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v. Fleck, Black marble wi' yalla flecks in it. |
2. A small particle; a flake, speck.
| 1750 Walpole in Phil. Trans. XLVII. 47, I never perceived, that I voided..any flecks of a stone. 1841–4 Emerson Ess. Circles Wks. (Bohn) I. 125 As we see flecks and scraps of snow left in cold dells..in June. 1861 Sir T. Martin Catullus, Lam. Ariadne 202 And flecks of wool stick to their wither'd lips. 1875 H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 92 A fleck of rust on a bright surface of steel will steadily enlarge. |
▪ II. † fleck, n.2 Obs. rare—1.
[Origin unknown; the meaning is clear from Isidore Etym. xii. xxix, where the L. word is vulpes.]
A fox.
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 86 The Fleck..saith Isidore..is naturally subtile, and hath many fetches to deceiue one. |
▪ III. † fleck, n.3 Obs. exc. dial.
Also flick.
= flare n.2
| 1575 Turbervile Falconrie 364 Barrowes flicke or larde. 1591 Percyuall Sp. Dict., Enx{uacu}ndia, fat, flicke, sewet. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Gt. Eater Kent Wks. i. 144/2 What say you to the Leafe or Flecke of a Brawne new kild..to be eaten hot out of the Bores belly raw? 1881 I. of Wight Gloss., Flick or Vlick, the lard of the inside of a pig. 1883 Hampsh. Gloss., Fleck, the fat of a pig before it is boiled down into lard. |
▪ IV. † fleck, n. Obs.
[? proper name.]
Used in proverbial phrase fleck and his make, a contemptuous designation for a man and his paramour.
| 1529 More Dyaloge i. xvii. 22 b/1, I tell you nothyng now of..many a flekke and hys make that maketh theyre metyng at these holsum hallows. 1532 ― Confut. Barnes viii. Wks. 780/2 What would the general counsail..haue sayed vnto that frere, and what vnto flecke hys make? 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 57, I did..heere, How flek and his make, vse their secrete hauntyng. |
▪ V. fleck, v.1
(flɛk)
Also 5 flek(k)e, 7 flecke.
[f. fleck n.1; cf. ON. flekka (perh. the source), Da. flække, Sw. fläcka, Ger. flecken.]
trans. To spot, streak or stripe; to dapple, variegate.
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 199 The whyght flekkyd with the brown. 1576 Turberv. Venerie 10 Their legges streaked and flecked with redde and blacke. 1641 G. Sandys Paraphr. Song Sol. iv. i, Vntill the Morning fleck the sky. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. ii. 55 Two Kids Both fleck'd with white. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. iii. viii, The sun was flecked with bars. 1830 Tennyson Poems, Love & Sorrow, The first green leaf With which the fearful springtide flecks the lea. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton x. 139 Overhead the still blue is scarcely flecked by a cloud. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets viii. 250 The feathers of the soaring bird were flecked with gold and crimson grain. |
b. To force in flecks or patches into. rare.
| 1886 Stevenson Dr. Jekyll viii, The wind..flecked the blood into the face. |
Hence ˈflecking vbl. n. Also concr.
| 1892 Daily News 3 May 2/4 In other materials this flecking with irregularly recurrent hints of colour is confined to stripes. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 9 Feb. 6/1 White spots and fleckings in the waistcoats. |
▪ VI. † fleck, v.2 Obs. exc. dial.
[? var. of flag v.]
intr. To fly low; to flit, flutter about.
| 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. viii. (1593) 189 [She] flecketh neere the ground. 1621 Markham Prev. Hunger (1655) 200 The old Cocke, the old Henne, and all their poots..flecke and runne together. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. viii. (1626) 156 They..fleck as lowe as earth, And lay their egs in tufts. 1884 Chesh. Gloss., Fleck, to fly. |
| transf. and fig. 1627–77 Feltham Resolves ii. xiv. 188 He flecks from one Egg to another, so hatcheth nothing. 1648 Earl Westmoreland Otia Sacra (1879) 154 The Relict..Doth voluntary fleck into Deaths armes. 1652 Shirley Sisters Prol. 11 The Town will still be flecking, and a Play..will starve the second day. |
▪ VII. fleck, v.3
(flɛk)
dial. and U.S. var. flick v.2