pi·ña·ta
(pĭn-yä′tə, pēn-)n.
1. A decorated container filled with candy and toys suspended from a height, intended to be broken by blindfolded children with sticks, and used as part of Christmas and birthday celebrations in certain Latin-American countries or at children's parties.
2. A frequent object or victim of ongoing criticism or abuse: "Partially hydrogenated oils [have become] a piñata for public health officials worldwide" (Michael Mason).
[Spanish, from Italian pignatta, a kind of pot, probably from dialectal pigna, pine cone (from its shape), from Latin pīnea; see pineal.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
piñata
(ˌpɪnˈjata)n
a papier-mâché party decoration filled with sweets, hung up during parties, and struck with a stick until it breaks open
[Spanish, from Italian pignatta, probably from dialect pigna, from Latin pinea pine cone]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
pi•ña•ta
(pinˈyɑ tə, pɪnˈyɑ-)n., pl. -tas.
(in Mexico and Central America) a decorated crock or papier-mâché figure filled with toys, candy, etc., and suspended from above, esp. at birthday parties and Christmas, so that blindfolded children may break it with sticks and release the contents.
[1885–90; < Sp: literally, pot < Italian pignatta]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
pinata - plaything consisting of a container filled with toys and candy; suspended from a height for blindfolded children to break with sticks