Jump To:

• piano
  piano

  noun

  a musical instrument in which felt-covered hammers, operated from a keyboard, strike the metal strings.
• Piano
  Piano

  noun

  Renzo. born 1937, Italian architect; buildings include the Pompidou Centre, Paris (1977; with Richard Rogers), the Potsdamer Platz redevelopment, Berlin (1998), and The Shard, London (2012)

piano

¹ American  

[pee-an-oh, pyan-oh] / piˈæn oʊ, ˈpyæn oʊ /

noun

pianos plural

1. a musical instrument in which felt-covered hammers, operated from a keyboard, strike the metal strings.

---

piano ² American  

[pee-ah-noh, pyah-naw] / piˈɑ noʊ, ˈpyɑ nɔ /

adjective

1. soft; subdued.

---

adverb

1. softly. p, p.

Piano ¹ British  

/ pjˈɑno /

noun

1. Renzo. born 1937, Italian architect; buildings include the Pompidou Centre, Paris (1977; with Richard Rogers), the Potsdamer Platz redevelopment, Berlin (1998), and The Shard, London (2012)

---

piano ² British  

/ pɪˈænəʊ /

noun

1. a musical stringed instrument resembling a harp set in a vertical or horizontal frame, played by depressing keys that cause hammers to strike the strings and produce audible vibrations See also grand piano upright piano

---

piano ³ British  

/ ˈpjɑːnəʊ /

adjective

1.  p.  music (to be performed) softly

---

piano Cultural  

1. A musical direction meaning “to be performed softly”; the opposite of forte. As the name of a musical instrument, it is short for pianoforte.

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• pianos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of piano¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; short for pianoforte

Origin of piano²

1675–85; < Italian: soft, low (of sounds), plain, flat < Latin plānus plain ¹

Explanation

A piano is a large musical instrument that you play by pressing black and white keys on a keyboard. Most people play a piano with their fingers, but Jerry Lee Lewis played with his fingers, feet, elbows, and, ahem, backside. A piano makes a sound when each key moves a small hammer that strikes a metal string. The inside of a piano looks kind of like a harp. Pianos are vital in many kinds of music, from classical to pop, and in the case of Lewis, boogie-woogie. Piano comes from the original Italian name for the instrument: piano e forte, "soft and loud." Piano is also the musical notation that tells the player that something should be played quietly.

Example Sentences

Though piano, synthesizer and what seems to be a reed instrument are audible, it comes across as something created spontaneously with toys and noise-making devices discovered in a room.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

Under Dhanraj Master, he studied Western music, mastering the guitar and piano while immersing himself in Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

For Daniel-Hoste, a classically trained pipe organist who plays in regional orchestras and teaches piano on the side, his expenditures hardly seemed exorbitant.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

She took piano lessons with a teacher who taught her any Beatles song she wanted to learn.

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026

As I mounted the steps, I heard the hesitant plinking of piano keys coming from the classroom.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Related Words

• grand piano
• instrument
• keyboard