piano nobile

American  

[pyah-naw naw-bee-le] / ˈpyɑ nɔ ˈnɔ bi lɛ /

noun

Italian.

piani nobili plural

1. the principal story of a large building, as of a palace or villa.

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piano nobile British  

/ ˈpjɑːnəʊ ˈnəʊbɪlɪ /

noun

1. architect the main floor of a large house, containing the reception rooms: usually of lofty proportions

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• piani nobili
  plural

Etymology

Origin of piano nobile

Italian: great floor

Example Sentences

The operatic museum in which they reside has many rooms, even on the piano nobile that both by right will occupy.

From The Guardian • Jun. 20, 2013

March 2007 Belgian designer and antiques dealer Axel Vervoordt’s apartment is on the piano nobile of the 15th-century Palazzo Alverà in Venice, Italy.

From Architectural Digest • Mar. 1, 2010

You were crossing the garden—you were bending over the sun-dial—and I spied upon you from a window of the piano nobile.

From My Friend Prospero by Harland, Henry

The family must have occupied the piano nobile and let off the floors they did not require.

From The Venetian School of Painting by Phillipps, Evelyn March

"In these tumble-down days it is rare to meet with one who still lives, mentally, on the gentlefolks' plane—the piano nobile of intelligence!"

From Lady Baltimore by Wister, Owen