Speck Is One of English's Smallest Nouns
A speck is a tiny spot or particle. Like shred and jot, it exists mainly to make comparisons of smallness.
A speck is a tiny spot or particle. Words this small tend to earn their living in comparisons: *a speck of dust*, *a speck on the horizon*, *not a speck of evidence*. The Pale Blue Dot photograph, taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 from six billion kilometres away, shows the Earth as a speck less than a pixel across — Carl Sagan built a famous passage on exactly that image. The word is Old English *specca*, of uncertain further origin.
- A tiny spot. *A speck of dust.*
- A distant object. *A speck on the horizon.*
- Speckled — covered in specks. *A speckled egg.*
- Fleck — a near synonym. *A fleck of paint.*
- Old English — *specca*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | speck | A speck. |
| Plural | specks | Specks. |
| Adjective | speckled | Speckled. |
| Related | fleck | A fleck. |
| Old English | specca | A spot. |
- A speck of dust on the lens.Particle.
- The ship became a speck.Distance.
- Voyager showed Earth as a speck.Astronomy.
English words for something tiny
- Speck — a tiny spot, usually visible
- Fleck — a small mark of contrasting colour
- Mote — poetic, a dust particle in a sunbeam
- Grain — a small hard particle, as of sand
- Iota — from the Greek letter, used only figuratively
Old English *specca*, a small spot, of uncertain further origin.
What is the Pale Blue Dot?
A photograph taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 from six billion kilometres away, showing Earth as a speck smaller than a single pixel.
What is the difference between a speck and a mote?
They mean much the same, but mote is poetic and usually describes dust visible in a beam of light.