Piebald
/ˈpaɪˌbɔːld/noun
Having patches of black and white or other contrasting colors.
Did you know?The first half of piebald comes from pie, an old word for a magpie, so the term literally means a magpie-like white patchwork—an image rooted in medieval color naming, not magic.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
pāga
“magpie”
Middle English
ME
pie
“magpie; later, a spotted or variegated color”
14th Century
English
pied
“marked with two or more colors”
16th Century
English
piebald
“having black-and-white patches, especially in animals”
Modern English
English
piebald
“having patches of contrasting colors, especially black and white”
Explore more surprising origins