Pinocchio

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A wooden puppet character from a children's story whose nose grows longer each time he tells a lie ; someone who often tells untruths
2. The famous carved marionette of a fairy tale whose nose lengthens when he fibs ; a person who habitually deceives others with falsehoods
3. The wooden boy from a classic Italian tale, whose nose stretches with every lie ; a figurative term for a habitual liar

Etymology: Pinocchio is the name of the wooden puppet in Carlo Collodi's 1883 children's story, but the name is older than the book's fame. In English it is a borrowing from Italian, and the story itself arose in the Italian press before becoming a classic. The name's exact origin is uncertain. One possibility is the rare Tuscan word "pinocchio," meaning "pine nut," which would suit a puppet carved from pine wood. Another is that it was built from "pino," meaning "pine tree" or "pine wood," with a diminutive ending. A third connection runs through a nickname. "Pino" is a diminutive of "Giuseppe," the Italian form of Joseph, and the puppet's maker is Geppetto, a shortened form of the same name. Collodi's choice may have played on that family resemblance of names, though the source does not settle which explanation Collodi intended.