† meaneln.
Obsolete. rare.
A spot or marking of contrasting colour (esp. red or black) on a horse. Cf. flea-bite n. 3.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > colour or marking > [noun] > mark or streak > reddish spot
flea-biting1598
meanela1637
flea-bite1681
a1637 G. Markham Compl. Farriar (1639) xiv. 121 If a horse..of any darke colour shall grow gryssel onely about his eye browes,..or any horse of a whitish collour, shall grow meanelld, with either blacke or red meanells [1671 J. Day meanels]..over his bodie, then both are infallible signes of extreame old age.
c1674 T. More in W. W. Skeat Ray's Coll. Eng. Words (1874) 55 Meanels, spots called flea-bits in white-coloured horses.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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