dapple

Definition

A mottled marking, usually in clusters.

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.

Example Sentences

• "“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."
• "A Sarronnese officer whom he did not know was leading a riderless horse, a dapple."
• "2004, D Caroline Coile, http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0764126733&id=vmTgPakg8nUC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&sig=5r0UWTYWxGcZayQlGiP4v3b1ajU Some well-intentioned breeders inadvertently breed two dapples together because occasionally a dapple will have so few patches of mottled coloration it appears undappled."