Common word for freckles; the medical terms 'lentigo' and 'ephelis' are less frequent.
buckwheat chaff
Only when written 蕎麦滓
Archaic original meaning, restricted to the kanji form 蕎麦滓; now replaced by 蕎麦殻 (そばがら).
See also: そば殻
She has freckles around her nose.
My freckles become darker in the summer.
In old language, 蕎麦滓 was read as そばかす, but now it is called そばがら.
そばかす refers specifically to freckles, while 染み covers a broader range of skin spots including age spots and liver spots.
Standard kana spelling; the word is usually written in kana.
Katakana spelling, sometimes used for emphasis or stylistic effect.
Rare kanji form; the characters mean 'sparrow' and 'spot'.
Archaic kanji form for the original meaning 'buckwheat chaff'.
Derived from そば (buckwheat) + かす (dregs, chaff), originally meaning buckwheat chaff. The freckle sense arose from the resemblance of freckles to scattered buckwheat husks.