Dapple
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A mottled marking, usually in clusters.
- 2 a small contrasting part of something wordnet
- 3 An animal with a mottled or spotted skin or coat.
"“My brother,” said he, “do not ride to–day / The dapple, as you’re wont; but mount the horse / Which I have chosen for thee."
- 1 To mark or become marked with mottling or spots.
"Jt ſeemes it is in faſhion vvith you to ſugar your papers vvith Carnation phraſes, and dapple your ſpeeches vvith nevv quodled vvords."
- 2 colour with streaks or blotches of different shades wordnet
- 1 Having a mottled or spotted skin or coat, dappled.
"Some dapple mists still floated along the peaks."
Example
More examples"Or would I were a little burnish'd apple For you to pluck me, gliding by so cold, While sun and shade your robe of lawn will dapple, Your robe of lawn, and your hair's spun gold."
Etymology
Uncertain. The adjective is first attested circa 1550 though the first element is already attested in dapple-grey as early as 1386, in Middle English, and later as dappled circa 1400; the OED suggests either: * a back-formation from dapple-grey, itself a variant of apple-grey, compare possible cognates all said of horses: Old Norse apalgrár (whence Norwegian abildgrå and Swedish apel-grå), German apfelgrau. Compare also French pommelé (“dappled”), from pomme (“an apple”); or, * a relation with Icelandic depill (“a dot, spot”). The noun and verb are both later attested likely as back-formations.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.