motley

See also: Motley

English

From Middle English motle, from Anglo-Norman motteley (“parti-colored”), late 14th c., from Old English mot (“speck”), cognate with mote.

Equivalent to mottle +‎ -y

motley (comparative more motley or motlier, superlative most motley or motliest)

Comprising greatly varied elements, to the point of incongruity.
Synonyms: heterogeneous, diverse, manifold; see also Thesaurus:heterogeneous
- c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene vii], lines 906-07:
  I met a fool i' th' forest,
  A motley' fool.
- 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314:
  Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
Having many colours; variegated.
Synonyms: colorful, prismatic, variegated; see also Thesaurus:multicolored

comprising greatly varied elements

Armenian: խայտաբղետ (hy) (xaytabłet)
Bulgarian: разнороден (bg) (raznoroden)
Dutch: bont (nl), samengeraapt
Finnish: sekalainen (fi)
French: hétéroclite (fr)
German: zusammengewürfelt (de), bunt zusammengeworfen, vielfältig (de), verschiedenartig (de), divers (de), heterogen (de), bunt (de)
Greek: ετερόκλητος (el) (eteróklitos), ανομοιόμορφος (el) (anomoiómorfos)
Italian: variegato (it), eterogeneo (it)
Japanese: ごちゃ混ぜの (gochamaze no), 寄せ集めの (yoseatsume no)
Persian: آمیخته‎ (fa) (âmixta(e))
Portuguese: misto (pt)
Romanian: pestriț (ro), variat (ro), felurit (ro)
Russian: разношёрстный (ru) (raznošórstnyj) (partly)
Spanish: heterogéneo (es), variopinto (es), variado (es), abigarrado (es)
Swedish: brokig (sv)

having many colours; variegated

Bashkir: сыбар (sıbar)
Bulgarian: пъстър (bg) (pǎstǎr), шарен (bg) (šaren)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 五顏六色／五颜六色 (zh) (wǔyánliùsè)
Dutch: bont (nl), geschakeerd (nl)
Finnish: kirjava (fi)
French: bigarré (fr)
German: bunt (de), vielfarbig (de), buntgefleckt, buntgemustert, buntgescheckt, kunterbunt (de), scheckig
Greek: πολύχρωμος (el) (polýchromos)
Italian: multicolore (it), variegato (it)
Japanese: 雑色の (zasshoku no)
Lithuanian: margas (lt)
Persian: رنگارنگ‎ (fa) (rangârang)
Plautdietsch: bunt
Portuguese: variegado (pt)
Romanian: pestriț (ro), vărgat (ro), multicolor (ro)
Russian: разноцве́тный (ru) (raznocvétnyj), пёстрый (ru) (pjóstryj)
Spanish: abigarrado (es)

motley (plural motleys)

An incongruous mixture.
A jester's multicoloured clothes.
(by extension) A jester; a fool.
- c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iii], line 71, page 198, column 2:
  Wil you be married, Motley?
- 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 110”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, OCLC 216596634:
  Alas, 'tis true, I have gone here and there, / And made myself a motley to the view,

an incongruous mixture