piñata

[ pin-yah-tuh; Spanish pee-nyah-tah ]

noun,plural pi·ña·tas [pin-yah-tuhz; Spanish pee-nyah-tahs]. /pɪnˈyɑ təz; Spanish piˈnyɑ tɑs/.
  1. (in Mexico and Central America) colorful papier-mâché figure or cheerfully decorated crock filled with toys, candy, etc., and suspended from above, especially during Christmas or birthday festivities, so that children, who are blindfolded, may break it or knock it down with sticks and release the contents.

Origin of piñata

1
1885–90; <Spanish: literally, pot <Italian pignatta, probably derivative of dial. pigna pinecone (from the pot's shape) <Latin pīnea, noun use of feminine of pīneus of the pine tree; see pine1, -eous

Words Nearby piñata

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How to use piñata in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for piñata

piñata

/ (ˌpɪnˈjata) /


noun
  1. a papier-mâché party decoration filled with sweets, hung up during parties, and struck with a stick until it breaks open

Origin of piñata

1
Spanish, from Italian pignatta, probably from dialect pigna, from Latin pinea pine cone

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