piano

¹ American  

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

noun

plural

pianos

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

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piano ² American  

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

adjective

1. soft; subdued.

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adverb

1. softly. p, p.

piano ¹ 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

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Piano ² 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)

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piano ³ British  

/ ˈpjɑːnəʊ /

adjective

1.  p.  music (to be performed) softly

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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.

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Etymology

Origin of piano¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; short for pianoforte

Origin of piano¹

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

Example Sentences

There were clusters of drinkers, mostly older fishermen and -women, and a piano.

From Literature

I feign uncontrollable excitement and unleash a devil’s piano of dialogue.

From Literature

Threaded with fiddle, piano and lead vocal by his son Jaime, “Nashville Skyline” is an elegy for Nashville’s rapacious gentrification as well as a love lost to time.

From Los Angeles Times

But when Kenneth Handler was at Hamilton High School in Beverlywood, he “played the piano and went to movies with subtitles.”

From Los Angeles Times

His style on the piano carries the relaxed tension of a man for whom syncretism comes naturally, East and West, sun and sorrow.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• grand piano
• instrument
• keyboard