piano

¹

[pee-an-oh, pyan-oh]

noun

plural

pianos 

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

piano

²

[pee-ah-noh, pyah-naw]

adjective

1. soft; subdued.

adverb

1. softly. p, p.

piano

¹

/ 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

²

/ ˈpjɑːnəʊ /

adjective

1. p. music (to be performed) softly

Piano

³

/ 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

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.

Word History and Origins

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of piano¹

C19: short for _pianoforte

Origin of piano²

C17: from Italian, from Latin plānus flat; see _plain ¹

Example Sentences

Suddenly, as the orchestra rehearsed the Saint-Saëns second piano concerto, the maestro walked angrily off the stage.

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Cleverly, the understated production never distracts from the lyrics, with ringing piano chords and gossamer strings that tesselate seamlessly with Burns' soulful melodies.

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Though her mother arranged lessons in piano, dancing, tennis and golf, “I was hopeless at everything,” she wrote.

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The prepared piano, albeit without Mr. Muhly, returned in a crucial if less central role for the roughly half-hour “Te Deum,” which on Friday was crisply rendered with entirely Estonian forces led by Mr. Kaljuste.

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His 2023 release, “The Other One”—for which he conducted an ensemble including saxophones, bassoons, strings, percussion and piano—landed on the year-end best-of lists of several classical music critics.

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Related Words

• grand piano 
• instrument 
• keyboard