piano

1
[ pee-an-oh, pyan-oh ]
/ piˈæn oʊ, ˈpyæn oʊ /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR piano ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural pi·an·os.

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

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Compare baby grand, concert grand, grand piano, spinet, square piano, upright piano.

Origin of piano

1
First recorded in 1795–1805; short for pianoforte

Words nearby piano

pianism, pianissimo, pianist, pianistic, pianistics, piano, piano accordion, piano bar, piano duet, piano hinge, piano nobile

Definition for piano (2 of 2)

piano2
[ pee-ah-noh; Italian pyah-naw ]
/ piˈɑ noʊ; Italian ˈpyɑ nɔ /
Music.

adjective

soft; subdued.

adverb

softly. Abbreviation: p, p.

Origin of piano

2
1675–85; < Italian: soft, low (of sounds), plain, flat < Latin plānus plain1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to piano

instrument, keyboard, player, clavier, pianoforte, clavichord, pianola, spinet

Example sentences from the Web for piano

British Dictionary definitions for piano (1 of 3)

piano1
/ (pɪˈænəʊ) /

noun plural -anos

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 vibrationsSee also grand piano, upright piano

Word Origin for piano

C19: short for pianoforte

British Dictionary definitions for piano (2 of 3)

piano2
/ (ˈpjɑːnəʊ) /

adjective, adverb

music (to be performed) softlySymbol: p

Word Origin for piano

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

British Dictionary definitions for piano (3 of 3)

Piano
/ (Italian pjˈɑno) /

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)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for piano

piano

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

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.