C14: from pie2; an allusion to the magpie's black-and-white colouring
pied in American English
(paɪd)
adjective
1.
covered with patches or spots of two or more colors; piebald; variegated
2.
wearing a garment of this description
Word origin
ME pyed, orig., black and white like a magpie: see pie3
Examples of 'pied' in a sentence
pied
These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content.Read more…
Until he does, he is merely a pied piper.
Christianity Today (2000)
The pied piper of the Paras keeps going.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
I'm convinced she is the pied piper of yore.
The Sun (2012)
Synonyms of 'pied'
variegated, spotted, streaked, irregular
More Synonyms of pied
All related terms of 'pied'
pi
Pi is a number, approximately 3.142, which is equal to the distance round a circle divided by its width . It is usually represented by the Greek letter π.
pie
A pie consists of meat , vegetables , or fruit baked in pastry.
à pied
on foot
pied shag
a large New Zealand seabird , Phalacrocorax varius , with a white throat and underparts
Pied Piper
(in German legend ) a piper who rid the town of Hamelin of rats by luring them away with his music and then, when he was not paid for his services, lured away its children
pied-piping
the principle that a noun phrase may take with it the rest of a prepositional phrase or a larger noun phrase in which it is contained, when moved in a transformation . For example , when the interrogative pronoun is moved to initial position, other words are moved too, as in to whom did you speak ?
pied wagtail
a British songbird , Motacilla alba yarrellii, with a black throat and back, long black tail , and white underparts and face: family Motacillidae ( wagtails and pipits )
pied-à-terre
A pied-à-terre is a small house or flat, especially in a town, which you own or rent but only use occasionally .
pied flycatcher
a small black and white migratory bird of Europe and western Asia, Ficedula hypoleuca
pied-billed grebe
a common American grebe ( Podilymbus podiceps ) with a black band around its bill , except in the winter
karuhiruhi
a large New Zealand seabird , Phalacrocorax varius , with a white throat and underparts
Pied Piper of Hamelin
→ the Pied Piper of Hamelin
water wagtail
a British songbird , Motacilla alba yarrellii, with a black throat and back, long black tail , and white underparts and face: family Motacillidae ( wagtails and pipits )
the Pied Piper of Hamelin
(in German legend ) a piper who rid the town of Hamelin of rats by luring them away with his music and then, when he was not paid for his services, lured away its children
helldiver
a small greyish-brown North American grebe , Podilymbus podiceps, with a small bill
(adjective)
Definition
having markings of two or more colours
a bird with pied markings
Synonyms
variegated
variegated grey and green leaves
spotted
hand-painted spotted cups
streaked
irregular
flecked
motley
mottled
mottled green and yellow leaves
dappled
He stood in the dappled sunlight of the forest.
multicoloured
a set of multicoloured umbrellas
piebald
a piebald pony
parti-coloured
varicoloured
Additional synonyms
in the sense of dappled
Definition
marked with spots of a different colour
He stood in the dappled sunlight of the forest.
Synonyms
mottled,
spotted,
speckled,
pied,
flecked,
variegated,
checkered,
freckled,
stippled,
piebald,
brindled
in the sense of motley
Definition
multicoloured
Synonyms
multicoloured,
rainbow,
variegated,
chequered,
polychrome,
polychromatic,
particoloured,
polychromous
in the sense of mottled
Definition
coloured with streaks or blotches of different shades