Spotted

a. and ppl. a. Also 5 spottid, -yd, 6, 9 Sc. -it, 7 spotede. [f. SPOT sb.¹ and v. Cf. NFris. spōted.]

  1.  Marked or decorated with spots.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 1721. And if of ðo spotted cumen, ðo sulen him ben for hire numen.

1388.  Wyclif, Gen. xxx 35. He departide … the geet and scheep geet buckis, and rammes, dyuerse and spottid.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (Roxb.), xxxi. 143. Þer er also wilde swyne,… dappeld and spotted, as it ware founez of daes.

1513.  Douglas, Æneid, I. vi. 32. [She was] cled into the spottit linx hyde.

1582.  in Brown, Abstr. Somerset Wills (1887), 93. Let my son Thomas have the spotted colt.

c. 1611.  Chapman, Iliad, XVII. 15 (1887), 223. Not any lion,… Nor spotted leopard, nor boar.

1648.  Hexham, II. Gespickelt laken, Speckled or Spotted cloath.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 415. I pass the Wars that spotted Linx’s make With their fierce Rivals.

1750.  trans. Leonardus’ Mirr. Stones, 87. This sort is spotted and purple.

1799.  [A. Young], Agric. Linc., 148. Best eating potatoes are spotted lemons.

1854.  Poultry Chron., II. 176. Their spotted plumage resembling the spotted markings on the neck and breast of a common cock pheasant.

1874.  H. H. Cole, Catal. Ind. Art S. Kens. Mus., 251. A very quaint flower pattern on a spotted white ground.

  b.  Const. with (some color, etc.).

1555.  Eden, Decades, I. vii. (Arb.), 91. They were all paynted and spotted with sundry coloures.

1604.  Shaks., Oth., III. iii. 435. A Handkerchiefe Spotted with Strawberries.

1660.  F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 187. Girafes … are docile beasts, white and spotted with red.

1703.  Dampier, Voy., III. II. 32. Very remarkable Hills…, their sides all spotted with Woods and Savannahs.

1774.  Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), VII. 224. This animal … is finely spotted with various colours.

1828.  Stark, Elem. Nat. Hist., I. 189. Plumage of a clear brown, spotted with deeper colour.

1855.  Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Sea-Drift (1884), 197. Four light-green eegs spotted with brown.

  c.  With adverbial or other addition.

1585.  T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., IV. xiii. 126 b. A Leopardes skynne well spotted.

1685.  Burnet, Lett. (1686), 240. Marble beautifully spotted.

1687.  A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., I. 237. No Lynx could be more exactly spotted, nor any Skin of a Tygre so pretty.

1774.  Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), VII. 223. The skin … being rough, hard, and variously spotted.

1816.  Tuckey, Narr. Exped. R. Zaire, iii. (1818), 121. The domestic animals are sheep spotted black and white.

  d.  Mining. Having the ore irregularly distributed through the workings.

1874.  Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 365. The ground is spotted and very rich in places.

1895.  Hamilton Smith, in Times, 19 Feb., 3/6. This reef … appears to be what in mining parlance is called ‘spotted,’ the ore varying greatly in value in the distance of a few feet.

  2.  Disfigured or stained with spots.

1532.  More, Confut. Tindale, Wks. 740/1. Syth that al the iustice of man is as the scripture sayeth like a fowle spotted clowte.

1619.  West, Bk. Demeanor, 167, in Babees Bk. Keep it neat and cleane, For spotted, dirty, or the like, is lothsome to be seene.

1649.  E. Reynolds, Hosea, iii. 23. The Moon returnes but a faint and spotted light upon the world.

1765.  Museum Rust., IV. 417. For every pound weight of Cocoons … of a weaker, lighter, spotted, or bruised quality.

1903.  G. W. Carryl, in Smart Set, IX. 19/1. One spotted peach will contaminate a whole basket.

  b.  fig. Morally stained or blemished.

1522.  More, De qual. Noviss., Wks. 83/1. The perilous pride of them that for theyr few spotted vertues … take themself for quick saintes.

1560.  Becon, New Catech., V. Wks. 1564, I. 445 b. All creatures were founde spotted in the syght of God.

1637.  R. Ashley, trans. Malvezzi’s David Persecuted, 52. Always egged on by the bitter touches of their spotted beginning.

1691.  Hartcliffe, Virtues, 67. Tho they are the most filthy and spotted Crimes.

1742.  Young, Nt. Th., V. 50. The flow’rs of eloquence, profusely pour’d O’er spotted vice, fill half the letter’d world.

1817.  Coleridge, Zapolya, Prel. 114. Do you press on, ye spotted parricides!

1891.  Hannah Lynch, G. Meredith, 68. Richard’s undertaking in the reform of spotted woman.

  absol.  1891.  Meredith, One of our Conq., xxxv. The white he was ready to take for silver,… the spotted had received corruption’s label.

  c.  Const. with (something disgraceful).

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron. Rich. III., 29 b. That note of infamie with the whiche his fame was iustely spotted and stayned.

1578.  Banister, Hist. Man, VIII. 102. With no small negligence is he spotted in this point.

a. 1629.  Hinde, J. Bruen, xxx. (1641), 95. Seldome any such meetings, but are either sprinkled with blood, or spotted with some grosse filthinesse.

1754.  H. Walpole, Lett. (1846), III. 76. I have scarce an idea left that is not spotted with clubs, hearts, spades, and diamonds.

1808.  Bentham, Sc. Reform, 2. The abuses, with which the regular system of procedure is spotted.

  d.  Marked, suspected.

1864.  Daily Tel., 17 May, 5/1. Because the defaulter becomes a ‘spotted’ man, whose word can never more be trusted.

  3.  Spotted fever, a fever characterized by the appearance of spots on the skin; now spec. epidemic cerebro-spinal meningitis, and typhus or petechial fever.

1650.  in Verney Mem. (1907), I. 474. S^r Charles his sickness was a spotted feaver.

1671.  Salmon, Syn. Med., I. lv. 147. The Spotted Feaver, is a continual malignant burning Feaver [etc.].

1747.  trans. Astruc’s Fevers, 344. The first [class] comprehends those of a true spotted-fever, the second those of a spurious one.

1775.  Ann. Reg., II. 4/1. Her Majesty’s illness, which was a most malignant spotted fever, baffled every endeavour.

1822–7.  Good, Study Med. (1829), II. 239. While, from the purple or flea-bite spots,… this variety has been very generally treated of at home, under the name of Spotted Fever.

1842.  [see PETECHIAL a.].

1896.  Allbutt’s Syst. Med., I. 667. Petechiæ were so common and so abundant in the earlier American Epidemics that the name spotted fever was applied to the disease.

  b.  Similarly spotted death, pestilence, sickness.

1666.  Dryden, Ann. Mirab., cclxvii. When spotted Deaths ran arm’d thro’ every Street.

1783.  Waldron, Contn. B. Jonson’s Sad Sheph., III. 64. The spotted pestilence his bow’r surround!

1825.  Scott, Talism., iii. How few can they deliver From lingering pains,… Red Fever, spotted Pestilence!

1899.  Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 853. The ‘spotted sickness’ of tropical America.

  4.  In specific names: a. Of animals, as spotted axis, boa, cavy, cougar, deer, etc.

  Also in a number of moth-names given by Rennie, Consp. Butterfl. & Moths (1832).

1781.  Pennant, Hist. Quadrup., I. 105. The *Spotted Axis … will bear our climate.

c. 1880.  Cassell’s Nat. Hist., III. 49. The Spotted Axis; the Hog Deer, and the Roebuck.

1802.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., III. II. 343. The *spotted Boa is sometimes scarcely inferior in size to the Constrictor.

1781.  Pennant, Hist. Quadrup., II. 363. The *Spotted Cavy … inhabits Brazil, and Guiana.

1860.  Mayne Reid, Hunter’s Feast, vii. Some naturalists speak of *spotted cougars—that is, having spots that may be seen in a certain light.

1679.  in Yule & Burnell, Hobson-Jobson (1886), 651/2. There being conveniency in this place for ye breeding up of *Spotted Deer.

1698.  Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 71. Being here presented with Chitrels, or Spotted Deer.

1894.  Lydekker, Roy. Nat. Hist., II. 353. The Indian Spotted Deer, or Chital (Cervus axis).

1754.  Catesby, Carolina, II. App. 110/1. The *Spotted Eft.

1797.  Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), IV. 149/1. The … harnessed antelope … is frequent at the Cape, where it is called the bonte-bok, or *spotted goat.

1818–22.  Encycl. Metrop. (1845), XIV. 671/1. Spotted Goat of the Cape.

c. 1880.  Cassell’s Nat. Hist., III. 59. The *Spotted Hog Deer is a rare species.

1781.  Pennant, Hist. Quadrup., I. 252. The *Spotted Hyæna … inhabits Guinea, Æthiopia, and the Cape.

1893.  Lydekker, Roy. Nat. Hist., I. 488. The Spotted Hyæna (Hyæna crocuta) … is by far the largest and most powerful of the three living species.

1751.  *Spotted Lizard [see LIZARD 1 b].

1831.  Griffith, trans. Cuvier, IX. Syn. 34. Spotted Lizard, Lacerta Guttulata.

1789.  A. Phillip, Voy. Bot. Bay, 276. *Spotted Martin. The species is about the size of a large polecat.

1781.  Pennant, Hist. Quadrup., I. 186. *Spotted Monkey.

1789.  A. Phillip, Voy. Bot. Bay, 147. The *Spotted Opossum.

1879.  E. P. Wright, Anim. Life, 402. The pretty *Spotted Salamander … inhabits the greater part of Central and Southern Europe.

c. 1880.  Cassell’s Nat. Hist., IV. 371. The Spotted Salamander,… Salamandra maculosa,… is the type of this genus.

1865.  Gosse, Land & Sea (1874), 67. The common *spotted seal (Phoca vitulina).

1648.  Hexham, II. Een Plack-slange, a *spotted Snake or Adder.

1802.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., III. II. 446. Spotted Snake.

c. 1880.  Cassell’s Nat. Hist., IV. 301. Taking the Common English Spotted Snake as an example.

1802.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., III. I. 47. The Testudo guttata, or *Spotted Tortoise.

1884.  Goode, Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim., 158. The ‘Spotted Tortoise’ or ‘Speckled Turtle,’ Chelopus guttatus.

c. 1880.  Cassell’s Nat. Hist., II. 59. The *Spotted Wild Cat … is of a grey colour, spotted with black.

  b.  Of birds, as spotted bower-bird, crake, cuckoo, eagle, emu, falcon, etc.

  Many others occur in Latham’s Gen. Synop. Birds (1781–5), as spotted boat-bill, booby, bunting, buzzard, etc.

1865.  Intell. Observ., No. 38. 103. The *spotted Bower-bird.

1879.  E. P. Wright, Anim. Life, 254. Equally interesting are the habits of the Spotted Bower Bird (Chlamydera maculata).

1824.  Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., XII. I. 223. *Spotted Crake.

1879.  E. P. Wright, Anim. Life, 321. The Spotted Crake (Porzana maruetta) is another native species.

1782.  Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. II. 539–40. *Spotted C[uckow]…. inhabits Cayenne.

1895.  Lydekker, Roy. Nat. Hist., IV. 2. The great spotted cuckoo (C. glandarius) has twice occurred in England.

1781.  Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. I. 38. *Spotted E[agle]…. The length of this bird is two feet.

1845.  Yarrell, Brit. Birds, 1st Suppl. 11. The Spotted Eagle, Aquila nævia.

1895.  Lydekker, Roy. Nat. Hist., IV. 230. The spotted eagle (Aquila maculata) of Central Europe.

c. 1880.  Cassell’s Nat. Hist., IV. 235. The *Spotted Emu (Dromiæus irroratus) has often bred in captivity in this country.

1770.  Pennant, Brit. Zool., IV. 8. *Spotted Falcon…. Size of a buzzard.

1783.  Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, II. I. 323. *Spotted Flycatcher;… frequents the warmer parts of the European continent.

1879.  E. P. Wright, Anim. Life, 243. The Spotted Fly-catcher (Muscicapa griscola) can hardly be said to be a song-bird.

1772.  Phil. Trans., LXII. 389. Tetrao Grous, *Spotted Grous.

1831.  Wilson, etc., Amer. Ornith., IV. 193. The red grouse,… and Tetrao canadensis, or spotted grouse, have but sixteen [feathers in the tail].

1768.  Pennant, Brit. Zool., II. 357. The *Spotted Redshank … in size … is equal to the preceding [i.e., Green Shank].

1829.  Griffith, trans. Cuvier, VIII. 78. *Spotted Ring Pigeon,… Columba Arquatrix.

1768.  Pennant, Brit. Zool., II. 369. The *Spotted Sandpiper … is common to Europe and America.

1872.  Coues, N. Amer. Birds, 260. Tringoides, Spotted Sandpiper.

1802.  Montagu, Ornith., s.v. Snipe, *Spotted Snipe, Scolopax Totanus.

1772.  Phil. Trans., LXII. 410. Scolopax,… *Spotted Woodcock.

1782.  Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. II. 569. Canadian *Spotted Woodpecker;… wing coverts and quills spotted with white.

1802.  Montagu, Ornith., s.v., The Spotted Woodpecker is less frequent in England than the Green.

1890.  Science-Gossip, XXVI. 47/1. The great spotted woodpecker (Picus major).

  c.  Of fishes, as spotted bass, blenny, cat, dogfish, goby, grunt, etc.

1876.  Goode, Anim. Resources U.S., in Smithsonian Coll., XIII. VI. 62. Red fish or *spotted bass (Sciænops ocellatus).

1805.  Barry, Orkney, 292. The *Spotted Blenny … is found under stones among the sea-weed.

1881.  Day, Fishes Gt. Brit., I. 208. Centronotus Gunnellus.… Spotted blenny.

1796.  *Spotted cat [see CAT sb.¹ 4 b].

1861.  *Spotted Dogfish [see DOGFISH 1].

1883.  Day, Fishes Gt. Brit., II. 309. Scyllium canicula,… Spotted dog-fish. Ibid., 310. Spotted, small-spotted, and lesser-spotted dog-fish.

1770.  *Spotted Goby [see GOBY].

1881.  Cassell’s Nat. Hist., V. 98. The Spotted Goby … differs from the other species in wanting the silk-like pectoral fins.

1876.  Goode, Fishes Bermudas, 54. The fishermen recognize several others, as the Yellow, Streaked, *Spotted, and Black Grunts.

1884.  Goode, Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim., 412. The *Spotted Hind, Epinephelus Drummond-Hayi,… has been but recently discovered.

1836.  Yarrell, Brit. Fishes, II. 448. Petromyzon marinus, *Spotted Lamprey.

1881.  Day, Fishes Gt. Brit., I. 306. *Spotted-ling, white-ling, and stake.

1804.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., V. II. 316. *Spotted Ray.

1881.  Cassell’s Nat. Hist., V. 42. This species … is sometimes known as the Spotted Ray and as the Painted Ray.

1884.  Goode, Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim., 266. *Spotted Black Rock-Fish (Sebastichthys melanops). Ibid., 267. *Spotted Rock Trout (Hexagrammus decagrammus).

1883.  C. F. Holder, in Harper’s Mag., Dec., 101/1. The *spotted sunfish (Enneacanthus obesus) is more democratic, affecting muddy streams.

1884.  Goode, Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim., 365. The Spotted Squeteague … is usually known on the Southern coast as the ‘Salmon’ or *‘Spotted Trout.’ Ibid., 177. Lophopsetta maculata, is sometimes called the *Spotted Turbot.

1881.  Cassell’s Nat. Hist., V. 75. The Cook Wrasse (Labrus mixtus) … is also known … as the Red Wrasse, Striped Wrasse, and *Spotted Wrasse.

  d.  Of plants, as spotted archangel, arse-smart, cat’s-ear(s), cowbane, etc.

1822.  Hortus Anglicus, II. 89. L[amium] Maculatum. *Spotted Archangel.

1731.  Miller, Gard. Dict., s.v. Persicaria, Dead, or *Spotted Arsmart.

1753.  Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl. s.v. Persicaria, The common mild or spotted arsmart.

1796.  Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), III. 691. Hypochæris maculata.… *Spotted Cats-ears.

1848.  [see CAT sb.¹ 19 b].

1855.  Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., III. 193. Spotted Cat’s-ear … is a rare plant.

1846–50.  A. Wood, Class-bk. Bot., 286. Cicuta maculata. Water Hemlock. *Spotted Cowbane.

1597.  Gerarde, Herbal, I. xcviii. 157. *Spotted Dogs Stones bringeth foorth narrow leaues.

1847.  *Spotted Gum [see GUM sb.² 5].

1889.  Maiden, Usef. Pl., 242. Eucalyptus hæmastoma.… Spotted Gum.

1731.  Miller, Gard. Dict., s.v. Pulmonaria, Common *spotted Lungwort, by some call’d Sage of Jerusalem.

1829.  T. Castle, Introd. Bot., 68. As in the spotted and officinal lung-wort.

1796.  Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), II. 28. Orchis maculata.… Female-handed Orchis. *Spotted Orchis.

1898.  Morris, Austral Eng., 431. Spotted-Orchis, Tasmanian name for the Orchid Dipodium punctatum.

1855.  Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., V. 210. *Spotted Palmate Orchis.

1882.  Garden, 11 Feb., 89/1. The Spotted Palmate Orchis is found, I believe, in every part of the Kingdom.

1855.  Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., IV. 303. *Spotted Persicaria.

1796.  Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), II. 381. Persicaria.… *Spotted Snakeweed.

1874.  Treas. Bot., Suppl. 1344/1. *Spotted Tree of the Queensland colonists. Flindersia maculosa, the trunk of which is remarkably spotted by the falling off of the outer bark in patches.

1889.  Maiden, Usef. Pl., 216. Flindersia maculosa.… Spotted or Leopard Tree.

1846–50.  A. Wood, Class-bk. Bot., 379. Chimaphila maculata,… *Spotted Wintergreen.

  5.  Comb., as spotted-beaked, -bellied, -billed, etc. (in specific names).

1829.  Griffith, trans. Cuvier, VIII. 620. *Spotted-beaked Duck, Anas Maculirostris.

1782.  Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. II. 494. *Spotted-bellied Barbet;… the plumage beneath rufous white, spotted with black.

1829.  Griffith, trans. Cuvier, VII. 472. Spotted-bellied Tamatia, Bucco Tamatia.

1785.  Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, III. II. 487. *Spotted-billed Duck, Anas poecilorhyncha.

1824.  Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., XII. II. 134. Spotted-billed Wigeon.

1811.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., VIII. I. 223. *Spotted-breasted Creeper.

1829.  Griffith, trans. Cuvier, VI. 72. *Spotted-eared Owl, Strix maculosa.

1753.  Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl. s.v. Orchis, The white-flowered *spotted-leaved palmated meadow orchis.

1782.  Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. II. 772. *Spotted Necked Humming Bird. Ibid. (1783), II. II. 645. Spotted-necked Turtle.

1829.  Griffith, trans. Cuvier, VIII. 65. Spotted-necked Quail.

1894.  Lydekker, Roy. Nat. Hist., II. 97. The spotted-necked otter (Lutra maculicollis).

1781.  Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. I. 106. *Spotted-tailed Hawk;… on each tail-feather … are three white spots.

1809.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., VII. I. 196. Spotted-Tailed Hobby.

1781.  Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, I. I. 68. *Spotted-winged Falcon. Ibid. (1783), II. I. 345. Spotted Winged Flycatcher.

  6.  Special collocations: Spotted Dick (also spotted dog), a suet pudding made with currants or raisins; spotted metal, stems (see quots.).

1849.  Soyer, Modern Housewife, 350. Plum Bolster, or *Spotted Dick.—Roll out two pounds of paste…, have some Smyrna raisins well washed [etc.].

1892.  Pall Mall Gaz., 15 Dec., 2/3. The Kilburn Sisters … daily satisfy hundreds of dockers with soup and Spotted Dick.

1876.  Hiles, Catech. Organ, iv. (1878), 22. A mixture is often used [for organ pipes] called *‘Spotted Metal,’ from the surface being covered with spots, or mottled.

1881.  C. A. Edwards, Organs, 125. ‘Spotted metal’ is the name given to a compound of tin and lead, in the proportion of one-third of the former to two-thirds of the latter.

1851.  Mantell, Petrifactions, i. 35. Specimens of certain fossil vegetables which are abundant in most coal fields, and are commonly known as *Spotted-stems, or Stigmariæ.