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A.Word.A.Day--pinto pinto (PIN-to) adjective Marked with patches of white and another color. noun 1. Pinto horse: a horse having patches of white and another color. 2. Pinto bean: a variety of kidney beans having mottled seed. [From American Spanish pinto (spotted), from obsolete Spanish, from Vulgar Latin pinctus (painted), past participle of pingere (to paint). Ultimately from Indo-European root peig- (to cut, mark) that's the source of such words as paint, depict, picture, pigment, pint, and pimento.] Here are two other words to describe horses and other animals: piebald: spotted in black and white. skewbald: marked with patches of white and another color, but not black. Today's word in Visual Thesaurus. "A black-faced, pinto-colored horse, Panda made her Central Massachusetts debut as a guide animal Saturday at the National Education for Assistance Dog Services campus." Mary Anne Magiera; Miniature Horses Make Fine Guides; Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Massachusetts); Jun 11, 2002. "Add some extra veggies to some pinto or black beans and they are pretty good." Edmund Tijerina; Canary Island Wine is Coming This Way; San Antonio Express News (Texas); Oct 12, 2004. This week's theme: what does that car name mean? Today's word is the name of a now-discontinued car from Ford. For its safety problems and the manufacturer's negligence, Pinto has become a symbol for all such products. X-Bonus I love my country too much to be a nationalist. -Albert Camus, writer, philosopher, Nobel laureate (1913-1960)

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