pianoforte

American  

[pee-an-uh-fawrt, -fohrt, pee-an-uh-fawr-tee, -tey, -fohr-] / piˈæn əˌfɔrt, -ˌfoʊrt, piˌæn əˈfɔr ti, -teɪ, -ˈfoʊr- /

noun

1. a piano.

---

pianoforte British  

/ pɪˈænəʊˈfɔːtɪ /

noun

1. the full name for piano 1

---

pianoforte Cultural  

1. The full name of the piano, the common musical instrument with a board of black and white keys, eighty-eight in all. The keys operate hammers that strike wires. Pianoforte is Italian for “soft-loud”; it received this name because its level of loudness depends on how hard the player strikes the keys.

---

Etymology

Origin of pianoforte

1760–70; < Italian ( gravecembalo col ) piano e forte literally, (harpsicord with) soft and loud, equivalent to piano soft ( piano ² ) + forte loud ( forte ² )

Example Sentences

I also include the pianoforte instrument in the arias, sometimes, for joyful moments — like the kisses of Zerlina, a little bit in the spirit of Mozart, what he would do.

From New York Times

And in "Persuasion," Anne Elliot is a consummate musician but does not envy the more showy accomplishments of the Musgrove sisters who play the harp, while she is still on the old-fashioned pianoforte.

From Salon

But when Liszt was preparing to perform in London in 1840, an advertisement said that he would give “recitals on the pianoforte.”

From New York Times

"I have played blindman's-buff and caught the corner of a particularly hard pianoforte with my forehead."

From Salon

She would be married off after learning the basics of homemaking — and perhaps how to play the pianoforte — and learning to please her boss, I mean husband.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• grand piano
• instrument
• keyboard