Pied describes something with two or more colors in patches or blotches, especially black and white. A pied horse has large irregular spots of different colors across its coat, like a paint horse with bold patches of brown and white. Birds can be pied too: magpies and pied crows wear striking black-and-white plumage.

You might know the word from “The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” a famous folktale about a mysterious musician who wore multicolored, patchy clothing. When rats overran the German town of Hamelin, the Pied Piper offered to solve the problem by playing his pipe and leading all the rats away. The townspeople agreed but then refused to pay him, so the piper returned and led away the town's children, just as he had the rats.

When you see pied in a name or description, picture something boldly spotted or patched with contrasting colors, like a pinto pony or a Holstein dairy cow.