/peen yah"teuh, pin yah"-/ ; Sp. /pee nyah"tah/ , n. , pl. piñatas /-teuhz/ ; Sp. /-tahs/ .
(in Mexico and Central America) a gaily decorated crock or papier-mâché figure filled with toys, candy, etc., and suspended from above, esp. during Christmas or birthday festivities, so that children, who are blindfolded, may break it or knock it down with sticks and release the contents.
[ 1885-90; pignatta, prob. deriv. of dial. pigna pinecone (from the pot's shape) pinea, n. use of fem. of pineus of the pine tree; see PINE 1 , -EOUS ]