piñata

piñata

See also: pinata

English

A piñata.

Alternative forms

• pinata

Etymology

From Mexican Spanish piñata, from piña, from Latin pinea (“pinecone”), because its paper cover (on traditional making) resembles one. Alternatively from Spanish via Italian pignatta (“clay pot”),[1] from a Chinese custom allegedly introduced by Marco Polo.[2]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɪnˈjɑː.tə/, /pɪnˈjæ.tə/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

Noun

piñata (plural piñatas)

1. (Latin American culture) A doll or other decorated container that is filled with candy and hit with a hammer or a stick by blindfolded children during birthday parties or other celebrations until the candy falls out.
2. (figuratively) Something which is repeatedly hit or damaged over a period of time.
   • 2020 August 5, Drachinifel, The Battle of Jutland - Clash of the Titans - Part 2 (Jellicoe vs Scheer)‎, archived from the original on 12 September 2022, retrieved 18 September 2022, 3:29 from the start:

     […] Wiesbaden, largely crippled, nevertheless refuses to sink for the moment, and will become something of a steel piñata for passing British capital ships over the next few hours whilst throwing the odd torpedo back in retaliation.

Translations

candy-filled container that is hit with a stick

Arabic: پِينْيَاتَا‎ (pīnyātā), پِنْيَاتَا‎ (pinyātā) Azerbaijani: piniyata Bengali: পিন্যাতা (pinẏata) Bulgarian: пиня́та f (pinjáta) Chinese: Mandarin: 皮納塔／皮纳塔 (pínàtǎ) Czech: piñata f Dutch: piñata (nl) f Esperanto: pinjato Finnish: piñata (fi) French: piñata (fr) f German: Piñata (de) f, Pinata f Greek: πινιάτα (el) f (piniáta) Hebrew: פיניאטה‎ Italian: pentolaccia f, pignatta (it) f Japanese: ピニャータ (pinyāta), ピニャタ (pinyata) Kannada: ಪಿನ್ಯಾತ​ (pinyāta​), ಪಿಞಾತ​ (piñāta​) Korean: 피냐타 (pinyata) Macedonian: пиња́та f (pinjáta) Norwegian: Bokmål: piñata f Polish: piniata (pl) f Portuguese: pinhata f Russian: пинья́та (ru) f (pinʹjáta) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: пѝњата f Roman: pìnjata (sh) f Spanish: piñata (es) f Swedish: piñata c Telugu: పిన్యాత​ (pinyāta​), పిఞాత​​​ (piñāta​​​) Thai: ปีญาตา Turkish: pinyata Ukrainian: пінья́та f (pinʹjáta)

Verb

piñata (third-person singular simple present piñatas, present participle piñataing, simple past and past participle piñataed)

1. To hit something or someone with sticks after having filled them with candy.
   • 2015 (November 20) "Zombie Broheims", episode 14 of Pig Goat Banana Cricket

     Cricket: "Don't pinata me!"

References

1. “piñata”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
2. Center for History and New Media (accessed March 15, 2019), “Piñata [Object]”, in Children and Youth in History, Item #411‎: “Polo likely brought the idea to Italy, where by the 14th century it was associated with celebration of Lent, and acquired the Italian name pignatta or "fragile pot."”

Further reading

• piñata on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Aptian, patina, tai-pan, taipan

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Spanish

Etymology

From piña, from Latin pinea (“pinecone”), because its paper cover (on traditional making) resembles one. Alternatively from the same source via Italian pignatta.[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piˈɲata/ [piˈɲa.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -ata
• Syllabification: pi‧ña‧ta

Noun

piñata f (plural piñatas)

1. piñata (doll filled with candy)

Derived terms

• piñatería

Descendants

• → Catalan: pinyata
• → English: pinata, piñata
• → Portuguese: pinhata

References

1. “piñata”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Further reading

• “piñata”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Anagrams

• pitaña