What does “pipa” mean in Brazilian Portuguese?

In Brazil, a pipa is a kite — the homemade diamond of paper and sticks that defines a kid’s afternoon. It is one of the country’s most beloved childhood pastimes, but the same word also means a wine cask or barrel, since both senses trace back to Latin. Note the gender too: it’s a pipa, feminine, the way Brazilians talk about flying one.

“Foi você que fez a pipa?” (“Did you make the kite?”) — the scolding here is over a homemade one. What makes pipa a rich pick is that it is far from the only name: Brazilians also say papagaio (“parrot”), raia or arraia (“ray,” after the fish-like shape), and down south pandorga, each tied to a region or a kite’s shape. Diamonds tend to be pipas or papagaios; squares are raias. Outside the toy, pipa keeps its older meaning of a barrel or cask — even Brazil’s famous Praia da Pipa is named for a barrel-shaped rock.