Today's Word "piebald"
Published in Vocabulary
piebald \PI-bald\ (adjective) - Having patches of different colors, particularly black and white spots. Used most frequently in reference to animals.
"We have such a piebald array of attitudes on our team, it is difficult to complete tasks on time."
From "pie," a derivative of Latin pica "magpie" + "bald" from "balled" in the sense of having been made look like a ball. Few words in English are more misleading than "piebald" ("magpie" being one that does). The qualitative noun is "piebaldness" and the adverb would be "piebaldly," were there a use for it. This adjective may itself be used as a noun to refer to a piebald horse or other animal as well as a verb meaning "acquiring patches of different colors." The word can also be used as a metaphor, mainly in the sense of a patchwork.
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