pied

Think of a magpie with its clear black-and-white feathers. That gives you the basic idea of pied. The word describes something that has patches or marks of different colors, often in clear, separate areas rather than colors blending together. It is often used for animals and birds, such as a pied bird, a pied cow, or a horse with large white and dark patches. In older writing, it can also describe clothing made of different colors or pieces of cloth.

The word pied comes from the Old French pie, meaning magpie, and that bird is still the easiest way to picture it. It describes something marked with two or more different colors, usually in clear patches, spots, or areas rather than in a smooth blend. Very often, the pattern is black and white, but it does not have to be.

You will most often meet pied in descriptions of animals, especially birds: a pied wagtail, a pied kingfisher, a pied cow, or another creature with strongly contrasting markings. In plants or landscapes, older literary writing may use it for things that look dappled or color-marked. The idea is not simply "colorful." The idea is that different colors show up side by side in visible parts.

The word also has an older use for clothing or fabric made of different colors. That sense appears in literature, including Shakespeare's "pied ninny," where the insult points to motley, many-colored clothing. So when something is pied, picture clear areas of different color, often bold and easy to see, especially in the natural world.