specked, ppl. a.
(spɛkt)
[f. speck n.1 or v.1]
1. Covered or marked with specks or spots; speckled; chequered, dappled, variegated.
| 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxx. 32 Seuer alle thi speckid sheep, and with speckyd flese, and what euere ȝolow, and speckid, and dyuerse colourid were, as wel in sheep as in geyt, shal be my mede. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 189 Ȝif þey drynken of boþe, þey schulle worþe spekked of dyuers colour. 1398 ― Barth. De P.R. xviii. lxviii. (Bodl. MS.), His backe is diuerslich ischape & specked as þe pard is. c 1450 Nominale (MS. Harl. 1002) 147 b, Scutulatus, speckud. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxx. 243 A syde hede and a fare fax, his gowne must be spekytt. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 64 The floures are..specked in the knappes and buddes. 1616 J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. ix. 387 Wheare seemd a longe speckd snake, his postern drewe and wrigled, her to stinge with forker blewe. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iv. viii. 227 Sure a pure Chrystall would more pleasant be Than a spect glasse tainted by venemous eye. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Speckt⁓wiper, a colour'd Handkerchief. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 204 The speckt throstle never wakes his song. 1886 Holland Chesh. Gloss., Speckt baw, a suet dumpling with currants in it. |
b. Of fruit: Having specks of decay or disease.
| 1658 [implied in speckedness]. 1882 Garden 4 Feb. 72/2 Even when the trees are but slightly affected by either canker or mildew the fruit is sure to be specked and comparatively valueless for market. 1897 Daily News 9 Sept. 3/7 ‘Specked’ fruit was fruit damaged, but not necessarily unsound. |
† 2. Of a disease: Characterized by the appearance of specks or spots. Obs.—0
| 1648 Hexham ii, Ceter, of schorfte als Lazerie, Specked Leprosie. |
Hence ˈspeckedness, the state of being specked or covered with specks, blemishes, etc.; a specked or unsound place.
| 1617 Rider's Dict., Nævositas, speckednesse. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Nevosity, speckedness, fulness of moles or freckles. 1658 tr. Porta's Nat. Magick iv. v. 119 See that [the fruits]..bee sound, without any bruise, or speckednesse. |