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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mottle

Mottle \Mot"tle\, n. A mottled appearance.

Mottle

Mottle \Mot"tle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mottled; p. pr. & vb. n. Mottling.] [From Mottled.] To mark with spots of different color, or shades of color, as if stained; to spot; to maculate.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mottle

1670s, probably a back-formation from motley.

mottle

1670s; see mottle (n.). Related: Mottled; mottling.

Wiktionary
mottle

n. 1 a distinguishing blotch of color 2 mottled coloration or pattern vb. To mark with spots of different color, or shades of color, as if stained; to spot; to maculate.

WordNet
mottle
  1. v. mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained [syn: streak, blotch]

  2. colour with streaks or blotches of different shades [syn: dapple, cloud]

Wikipedia
Mottle

Mottle is a pattern of irregular marks, spots, streaks, blotches or patches of different shades or colours. It is commonly used to describe the surface of plants or the skin of animals. In plants, mottling usually consists of yellowish spots on plants, and is usually a sign of disease or malnutrition. Many plant viruses cause mottling, some examples being:

  • Tobacco vein mottling virus
  • Bean pod mottle virus

Mottling is sometimes used to describe uneven discolored patches on the skin of humans as a result of cutaneous ischemia (lowered blood flow to the surfaces of the skin) or Herpes zoster infections. The medical term for mottled skin is dyschromia. Although this is not always the case, mottling can occur in the dying patient and commonly indicates that the end of life is near. Mottling usually occurs in the extremities (lower first) and progresses up as cardiac function declines and circulation throughout the body is poor. In animals, mottling may be a sign of disease, but may also be a hereditary trait, such as seen with the champagne and leopard complex genes in horses.

Mottles can also refer to discoloration in processed food, such as butter.

In geology, mottled refers to a patchy/blotch texture of alteration or interbedding, commonly found in limestone and commonly caused by bioturbation.

Mottling can also refer to an undesirable defect which can occur with effect coatings, most obvious on light metallic finishes. The total color impression shows irregular areas of lightness variations. These "patches" are usually visually evaluated, described as a mottling effect. Some also feel that it reminds them of clouds. This effect is especially noticeable on large body panels. It can be caused by the coating formulation, as well as variations in the application process. For example, disorientation of the metallic flakes or film thickness variations of the basecoat can lead to various mottle sizes resulting in a non-uniform appearance. The visual perception of mottling is dependent on the viewing distance: Large mottles can be seen in far distance evaluation, while small mottles are more noticeable in close up evaluation. The visual evaluation of mottling is very subjective, as it depends on the illumination conditions, the observing distance and the viewing angle.

In graphics printing mottling refers to an uneven coloration resulting from letterpressed printing of textured papers, mainly in larger colored surfaces. Due to the uneven surface, not all fibers of the paper are evenly saturated with color unlike offset printing.

Usage examples of "mottle".

As its name imports, it is of an exceedingly rich, mottled tint, with a bestreaked snowy and golden ground, dotted with spots of the deepest crimson and purple.

The landscape had showed crimson and gray on the ground-screen, the woods mottled, the hills had been blotches and black holes.

I saw that her skin was mottled, blotched with darker and lighter grays.

His age-blunted fangs were mottled with wine stains, and his yellow-slitted eyes gazed with blurry affection at his spawn.

Suddenly they came around the curve and he could see them clearly, great black-and-white mottled beasts, long-legged like camels but humpless, swaying beneath bales bound with heavy coarse cloth.

The whole building, from the pavement to the coping, notched to receive the roof-joists, is of alabaster, plain-white and streaked with ruddy, mauve, and dark bands, whose mottling gives the effect of marble.

Now that it was light, he noticed the brilliant swirl of tattoos mottling her skin, red chevrons, white lines, and small black circles.

The leaves had turned red, or yellow, or orange, a mottling of color across the surrounding forest.

Pale-skin had retreated, and in its place one with a gold sheen and a dozen crystalline growths mottling its skin shuffled forward to confront him.

Torchlight illuminated ancient scars mottling the walls where stone had been chipped away as miners sought new veins.

The officer came back and directed her to sit by the roadside in the mottled shadow of a small, bent tree, some odd northern species with wide palmate leaves.

Even as he gazed a green mottled snake curled noiselessly over a branch above his head, and a bright-coloured paroquet broke suddenly from amid the foliage and flashed off among the tree-trunks.

Besides his money, which did not interest him greatly, he had his adored son, James, a long, saddish person with a dusky, mottled complexion and a pleuritic stitch which he had got during the War through a leaky gas-mask.

The material is a soft greenish mottled serpentine, or serpentinoid limestone.

Mottled brown scales and fins instead of arms and though he walks like a man, his snouty face points skyward, sweeping from his shoulderless torso, with bulging gray eyes at the side of his head.