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”), from a Chinese custom allegedly introduced by Marco Polo.

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, 3:29 from the start, in The Battle of Jutland - Clash of the Titans - Part 2 (Jellicoe vs Scheer)‎^[2], archived from the original on 12 September 2022:

     […] 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 (pinnata)
• 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, pignata (fr) f, pinata (fr) f, pinyata f, piniata 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!"

Further reading

• piñata on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Aptian, patina, tai-pan, taipan

French

Alternative forms

• pignata, pinata, pinyata, piniata

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pi.ɲa.ta/

Interjection

piñata f (plural piñatas)

1. piñata

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.

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

• baile de piñata
• Domingo de Piñata
• piñatería

 

Descendants

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

Further reading

• “piñata”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Anagrams

• pitaña