Etymology: Unless this is the first element in dapple-grey adj., it is not known until late in the 16th cent., being preceded somewhat by examples of the adjective of the same form, and followed by those of the verb in the simple tenses; the (? participial) adjective dappled however appears two centuries earlier. The mutual relations of these and the derivation and etymological development of the whole group are, from the want of data, still uncertain. The primary meaning of dappled was ‘spotted, specked, blotched’, which might arise either from a verb ‘to spot’ or a noun = ‘spot, blotch’. A possible connection is the Icelandic depill (found in 13th cent.) ‘spot, dot’; according to Vigfusson ‘a dog with spots over the eyes is also called depill’. This is apparently a diminutive of dapi pool: compare modern Norwegian dape, depel muddy pool, pond, dub; Middle Low German dope, dobbe. Thus dapple might perhaps originally mean a ‘splash’, and, hence, a small blotch or speck of colour.

Etymology: See dapple n., and dappled adj. The simple adjective is known c1550: its relation to the noun and verb is uncertain. According to analogy, it might be the source of either or both of these; but its date would suggest that it may itself have been worn down < dappled adj., or short for dapple-grey adj. and n.Dapple cited by Imperial and Century dictionaries from Scott, is an error for dappled: see Guy M. xxv.

Etymology: The (? participial) adjective dappled adj. occurs from the end of the 14th cent.; but the simple verb is first known two centuries later, and might have been inferred from the participial adjective, or formed directly on the noun or adjective of same form: see dapple n.