Word of the Day for Sunday, February 5, 2012
pied \pahyd\, adjective:
1. Having patches of two or more colors, as various birds and other animals.
2. Wearing pied clothing.
"Lashing his tail, he followed the pied mare reluctantly into the cave. Its upper walls and ceiling clustered with glowing lichens and fungi in rose, ghost blue, saffron, and plum."
-- Meredith Ann Pierce, "Dark Moon"
The fact of the pied birds being pursued and persecuted with much clamour by the other ravens of the island was the chief cause which led Brünnich to conclude that they were specifically distinct.
-- Charles Darwin, "The Descent of Man"
Pied, like the pastry pie, is related to the Latin word for magpie, pīca. Magpies have black and white coats, so that type of patched coat came to be called "pied."
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