Where does “piebald” come from?
Piebald comes from English pie, from Middle English pye, from Latin pica meaning magpie, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)peyk-.
piebald (English): Spotted or blotched, "especially" in black and...
Definitions
- Spotted or blotched, "especially" in black and...
Ancestry of “piebald”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pie | A type of pastry that consists of an outer crust... |
| 2 | Middle English | pye | pie; magpie; Someone who is cunning or wily |
| 3 | Old French | pié | foot |
| 4 | Latin | pēs | a foot, in its senses as |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |