macula vs speckle

macula

noun
  • A spot, as on the skin, or on the surface of the sun or of some other luminous orb. 

  • An oval yellow spot near the center of the retina of the human eye, histologically defined as having two or more layers of ganglion cells, responsible for detailed central vision. 

  • In planetary geology, an unusually dark area on the surface of a planet or moon. 

  • A small chamber of the inner ear of certain vertebrates filled with endolymph and containing an otolith. 

  • A rather large spot or blotch of color. 

speckle

noun
  • A small spot or speck on the skin, plumage or foliage. 

  • Kind; sort. 

  • A cluster of interchromatin granules in a nucleus. 

  • The random distribution of light when it is scattered by a rough surface. 

verb
  • To mark with speckles. 

How often have the words macula and speckle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )