Advertisement

Origin and history of pied

pied(adj.)

"parti-colored, variegated with spots of different colors," late 14c. (early 14c. in surnames), as if it were the past participle of a verb form of the Middle English noun pie "magpie" (see pie (n.2)), in reference to the bird's black and white plumage. Earliest use is in reference to the pyed freres, an order of friars who wore black and white. Also in pied piper (1845, in Browning's poem based on the German legend; used allusively by 1939).

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to pied

pie(n.2)

"magpie," mid-13c. (late 12c. as a surname), from Old French pie (13c.), from Latin pica "magpie" (see magpie).

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    motley
    late 14c., "parti-colored, variegated in color" (originally of fabric), from Anglo-French motteley, a word of unknown origin, perhaps [OED] based on Old English mot "speck" or a cognate Germanic word (see mote). But Klein's sources say probably from Gaulish. Century Dictionary re
    calico
    1530s, kalyko cloth, "white cotton cloth," from an alternative form of Calicut (modern Kozhikode), name of the seaport on the Malabar coast of India where Europeans first obtained it. In U.S. use from c. 1800, "printed cotton cloth coarser than muslin;" extended to animal colorin
    piebald
    "of two different colors, having spots or patches of white and black or another color," 1580s, formed from pie (n.2) "magpie" + bald in its older sense of "spotted, white;" in reference to the black-and-white plumage of the magpie. Hence, "of mixed character, heterogeneous, mongr
    medley
    From mid-14c. as "cloth made of wools dyed and mingled before being spun," whether of one color or many, but especially pied...
    pica
    This is probably from Latin pica "magpie" (see pie (n.2)); the book so called perhaps from the color and the "pied" look...
    pedigree
    early 15c., pedigrue, "genealogical table or chart," from Anglo-French pe de gru, a variant of Old French pied de gru "foot...The word obviously is of French origin, and pied de gru is the only Old French term answering to the earliest English forms...
    parti-colored
    1530s, party-colored, "colored differently in different parts," from party "divided," from Middle English partie "of different colors; different" (late 14c.), from French parti, past participle of partir "to divide," from Latin partiri "to share, part, distribute, divide," from p
    hyperbole
    "obvious exaggeration in rhetoric," early 15c., from Latin hyperbole, from Greek hyperbole "exaggeration, extravagance," literally "a throwing beyond," from hyper- "beyond" (see hyper-) + bole "a throwing, a casting, the stroke of a missile, bolt, beam," from bol-, nominative ste
    canteen
    1744 (in a recollection from c. 1710), "store in a military camp," from French cantine "sutler's shop" (17c.), from Italian cantina "wine cellar, vault," diminutive of canto "a side, corner, angle." Thus it is perhaps another descendant of the many meanings that were attached to
    noble
    c. 1200, "illustrious, distinguished, of high rank or birth," from Old French noble "of noble bearing or birth," from Latin nobilis "well-known, famous, renowned; excellent, superior, splendid; high-born, of superior birth," earlier *gnobilis, literally "knowable," from gnoscere

    Share pied

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near pied
    Advertisement