"decorated container (originally a pot) filled with sweets and small gifts, suspended from a ceiling and broken by a blindfolded person on festive occasions," 1887, from Mexican Spanish piñata, in Spanish "jug, pot," ultimately from Latin pinea "pine cone," from pinus (see pine (n.)).
"dark, hard, glass-like volcanic rock," 1650s, from Latin obsidianus, misprint of Obsianus (lapis) "(stone) of Obsius," name of a Roman alleged by Pliny to have found this rock in Ethiopia.
c. 1400, "the cutting out of figures;" early 15c. as "the action of delivering blows with the fist," verbal noun from punch (v.). Related: Punching-bag "bag, generally large and heavy, suspended from the ceiling to be punched by an athlete, especially a boxer, for training or exercise" is by 1889 (also punch-bag); the figurative sense is attested by 1903.
small roundish glass bodies, probably of meteoric origin, 1909, from German tektit (Suess, 1900), from Greek tektos "molten," from tekein "to melt."
1801, agent noun in Latin form from insulate (v.). In reference to the glass or earthenware devices to hold telegraph (later telephone) wires, from 1840s.
type of bell-jar, 1882, from French cloche "bell, bell glass" (12c.), from Late Latin clocca "bell" (see clock (n.1)). As a type of women's hat, recorded from 1907, so called from its shape.
card game, 1848, from French baccara (19c.), which is of unknown origin. Baccarat is the name of a town in France that was noted for glass-making.
"material for glass-making," 1660s, from Italian fritta, noun use of fem. past participle of friggere "to fry," from Latin frigere "to roast, poach, fry" (see fry (v.)).
