piebald

English

WOTD – 18 September 2011

A piebald horse.

Etymology

From pie (“magpie”) + bald (“having white patches or blazes”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpaɪ.bɔːld/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpaɪ.bɔld/, /ˈpaɪ.bɑld/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Adjective

piebald (comparative more piebald, superlative most piebald)

1. Spotted or blotched, especially in black and white.
   • 1965, Susan Cooper, Over Sea, Under Stone, page 20:

     "Well, isn't that just like a girl. All this round you, and you only see a bit of dust. It'll brush off." He patted ineffectually at his piebald shirt.

   • 2001, Michel Faber, Under the Skin‎^[1], page 4:

     Usually, however, the hitcher was standing exactly where she'd first passed him, his arm perhaps just marginally less erect, his clothing (if rain was setting in) just that little bit more piebald.

   • 2011, Stanley Coren, Sarah Hodgson, Understanding Your Dog For Dummies:

     The classic example of a piebald dog is the Dalmatian.

2. (figuratively) Of mixed character, heterogeneous.
   • 1839, Charles Hodge, Henry Boynton Smith, “The Origin and Variations of the English Language”, in The Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review‎^[2], volume XI, page 544:

     And at the present day, the wanton introduction of scientific terms from the Greek and Latin, and of phrases from the French, threatens to render our tongue still more piebald, heterogeneous and unwieldy.

   • 1864, T. E. Espin, Supply and Training of Ministers, in Church of England, Report of the Proceedings of the Church Congress [1863], page 67:

     Hence you will make the piebald Church more piebald than ever.

   • 1970, “Time”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[3], volume 95, page 67:

     Out there on the stage is the largest — and most piebald — rock band in captivity.

Coordinate terms

• variegated

Derived terms

• piebald dolphin

Related terms

• pied
• skewbald

Translations

spotted or blotched

• Baluchi: کمبر
• Brahui: ابلخ, کمبر
• Bulgarian: шарен (bg) (šaren), на петна (na petna)
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: laikukas (fi)
• French: pie (fr)
• German: gescheckt (de), scheckig, weißgescheckt (especially in white), schwarzgescheckt (especially in black)
• Irish: alabhreac, ballach (of horse)
• Kazakh: please add this translation if you can
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بەڵەک (bellek)

  Northern Kurdish: belek (ku)

• Macedonian: абраш m (abraš)
• Maori: pōrangorango, kōpurepure
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Northern Hindko: ابلق
• Persian: ابلک (fa) (ablak), ابلق (fa) (ablaq), پیسه (fa) (pise)
• Russian: (of animals) пе́гий (ru) (pégij), пятни́стый (ru) (pjatnístyj)
• Sanskrit: पृषत् (sa) (pṛṣat)
• Scottish Gaelic: breac
• Serbo-Croatian: pjegav (sh), pjegast, mrljast (sh)
• Sicilian: baḍḍijatu
• Spanish: moteado (es)
• Swedish: please add this translation if you can
• Tagalog: hubero
• Turkmen: please add this translation if you can
• Volapük: vielik (vo)
• Welsh: du a gwyn
• Yakut: ала (ala)

of mixed character, heterogeneous

• Bulgarian: пъстър (bg) (pǎstǎr), разнообразен (bg) (raznoobrazen)
• Russian: пёстрый (ru) (pjóstryj), разношёрстный (ru) (raznošórstnyj)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

Noun

piebald (plural piebalds)

1. An animal with piebald coloration.
   • 1918, William Henry Hudson, Far Away and Long Ago, page 91:

     Our neighbour's fancy was for piebald horses, and so strong was it that he wished not to have any one-coloured animals in his herd, despite the fact that he bred horses for sale and that piebalds were not so popular as horses of a more normal colouring.

Translations

animal with piebald coloration

• Finnish: tobiano
• Maori: paiporo
• Punjabi: ਡਬਾ m (ḍabā), ڈبا m (ḍbā)

See also

• sheld
• ablaq

Anagrams

• bipedal