# piñata
## English
### 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: /pɪnˈjɑː.tə/, /pɪnˈjæ.tə/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Noun

piñata (plural piñatas)
* (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.
* (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)‎, 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.
** 2024 October 16, Michael Kimmelman, “Paul Rudolph Was an Architectural Star. Now He’s a Cautionary Tale.”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:When it opened, it prompted rapturous reviews akin to what, many years later, greeted Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Bilbao. But the building soon became a piñata for everything wrong with modern architecture.

#### Translations
### Verb

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

* ↑ “piñata”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* ↑ Center for History and New Media (2019 March 15 (last accessed)) “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

## French
### Alternative forms

* pignata, pinata, pinyata, piniata

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pi.ɲa.ta/

### Interjection

piñata f (plural piñatas)
* 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: /piˈɲata/ [piˈɲa.t̪a]
* Rhymes: -ata
* Syllabification: pi‧ña‧ta

### Noun

piñata f (plural piñatas)
* piñata (doll filled with candy)

#### Derived terms

* baile de piñata
* Domingo de Piñata
* piñatería

#### Descendants

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

### References

* ↑ “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

### 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