Clipping ofpianoforte, fromItalianpianoforte, frompiano(“soft”) +forte(“strong”). So named because it could produce a wide range of varied volumes note-by-note, in contrast to older keyboard instruments, notably theharpsichord.Doublet ofllano,plain, andplane.

• (US,Canada)IPA^(key):/piˈænoʊ/
• (UK)IPA^(key):/piˈænəʊ/
• (obsolete, nonstandard)IPA^(key):/paɪˈænoʊ/^[1]

• Audio(Southern England):

  (file)

piano (pluralpianosor(archaic)pianoes)

2. (music) A percussivekeyboardmusicalinstrument, usually ranging over sevenoctaves, with white and black colored keys, played by pressing these keys, causinghammers to strikestrings.[from 1803]

   Synonym:(dated)pianoforte

   Coordinate terms:cembalo,clavichord,fortepiano,harpsichord,organ,synthesizer,synth

   Thepiano in his house takes up a lot of space.

   She has been taking lessons for many years and now playspiano very well.

piano (third-person singular simple presentpianos,present participlepianoing,simple past and past participlepianoed)

1. To play the piano.
   • 1967, Harry F. Chaplin,A McCrae Miscellany, page41:

     Anyhow Ipianoed to my own ear, and had no thought at that time for an audience.

   • 1978, Bertha Harris,Confessions of Cherubino, page96:

     Who comforted me with Madeleines and lime tea, with whipped cream in my cocoa in far off Ann Arbor while others selfishly fiddled, bassooned,pianoed only for their own ugly self-advancement!

   • 2008, John Gruen,Callas Kissed Me...Lenny Too!, page138:

     John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Arnold Weinstein, and others came to the house, taping their poems as Ipianoed and zithered and drummed away.

   • 2020, Becky Manawatu,Auē, page139:

     We guitared and drummed and head banged andpianoed.

2. (of or with fingers) To move (the fingers) up and down on, similar to the motions of a pianist playing the piano.
   • 2013, Ann Blair Kloman,A Diamond to Die For, page29:

     He just stared at her, leaned back in his chair andpianoed his fingers along the tablecloth.

   • 2017, Kim Michele Richardson,The Sisters of Glass Ferry:

     “Jean, it ain't right how you separated those two,” he said, andpianoed the little coffin with his fingers, tapping out his grievance.

   • 2020, Simon Lelic,The Search Party:

     The superintendentpianoed his fingers on the surface of a nearby desk.

   • 2021, Emilya Naymark,Hide in Place:

     Hollypianoed her fingers over her throat.

3. To equip with a piano.
   • 1889,The Engineering Record, Building Record and Sanitary Engineer, page128:

     Other buildings will also be erected andpianoed by the same architect.

   • 1892,The Japan Daily Mail - Volume 18, page772:

     A tabernacle has been built, burnt, rebuilt, electric lighted, organed,pianoed, and frequently filled — all during the last two years.

FromItalianpiano.

• (General American,Canada)IPA^(key):/piˈɑnoʊ/,/piˈænoʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/piˈɑːnəʊ/

piano (comparativemorepiano,superlativemostpiano)

1. (music)Softly, as adynamic in a piece ofmusic.[from 17th c.]

   (abbreviation)p

piano (comparativemorepiano,superlativemostpiano)

1. (music)Soft,quiet.
2. (in extended use)Gentle,soft,subdued.
   • 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter XVIII, inPersuasion; published inNorthanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume IV, London:John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818),→OCLC:

     “Oh! yes, yes, there is not a word to be said against James Benwick[…]that soft sort of manner does not do him justice.”[…]
     “Well, well, ladies are the best judges; but James Benwick is rather toopiano for me[…]”

   • 1977,John Le Carré,The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published2010, page160:

     ‘Tradecraft, Chris,’ Enderby put in, who liked his bit of jargon, and Martindale, stillpiano, shot him a glance of admiration.

piano (third-person singular simple presentpianos,present participlepianoing,simple past and past participlepianoed)

1. To become softer and less intense.
   • 1839, Rosina Doyle Bulwer afterwards Bulwer Lytton (Baroness Lytton.),Cheveley; Or, The Man of Honour, page385:

     “You know, Mrs. Wrigglechops,”pianoed Miss Drucilla , even more meekly and mildly than before, "the ace is either one or eleven."

   • 2000, David R. Beasley,Aspects of Love: Three novellas, page83:

     His tonepianoed on intimacy.

   • 2009, David Lau,Virgil and the Mountain Cat, page61:

     A daypianoed, swelled acutest,pianoed.

•  piano on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• NAIOP

• IPA^(key):/piˈanɔ/

piano f (pluralpiano,definitepianoja,definite pluralpianot)

1. (music)piano

Ultimately fromItalianpiano.

• Audio:

  (file)

piano (definite accusativepianonu,pluralpianolar)

1. (music)piano

• IPA^(key):(Central)[piˈa.nu]
• IPA^(key):(Balearic,Valencia)[piˈa.no]

• Audio:

  (file)

piano m (pluralpianos)

1. (music)piano

Derived fromItalianpiano.

• IPA^(key):[ˈpɪjano]
• IPA^(key):[ˈpɪjaːno]
• Hyphenation:pia‧no

piano n

1. (music)piano

   Synonyms:klavír,klimpr

• “piano”, inPříruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech),1935–1957
• “piano”, inSlovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech),1960–1971, 1989

Borrowed fromFrenchpiano, fromItalianpiano, shortening ofpianoforte.

• IPA^(key):/piˈaːnoː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation:pi‧a‧no
• Rhymes:-aːnoː

piano f orn (pluralpiano's,diminutivepianootje n)

1. (music)piano

   Synonym:pianoforte

• pianobouwer
• pianoles
• pianospel

• IPA^(key):/piˈano/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ano
• Hyphenation: pi‧a‧no

piano (accusative singularpianon,pluralpianoj,accusative pluralpianojn)

1. (music)piano

FromItalianpiano.

• IPA^(key):/ˈpiɑno/,[ˈpiɑ̝no̞]
• Rhymes:-iɑno
• Hyphenation^(key):pia‧no

piano

1. (music)piano

• “piano”, inKielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki:Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland),2004–, retrieved2023-07-03

• apoin,paino,paoin,pinoa,ponia

Borrowed fromItalianpiano.Doublet ofplain andplan.

• IPA^(key):/pja.no/

• Audio:

  (file)

piano m (pluralpianos)

1. (music)piano

   Il joue du piano avec compétence.

   He plays the piano competently.

   • 1986, “Il était une fois … une maison des musiciens [There Once Was… a House of Musicians]”, inIl était une fois … une petite grenouille [There Once Was… a Little Frog] (fiction), Paris:CLE International:

     Je n’aime pas lepiano. Je préfère le football.
     Hein ! Quoi ! Et tu me dis ça à moi, le grand professeur Trompette ? Tiens ! Répète ta leçon cinq fois ! Non, dix fois !
     Je déteste lepiano !

     I don’t like the piano. I like football more.
     Huh? What? And you’re telling that to me, the great professor Trumpet? Alright then! Repeat what you’ve learned five times! No, ten times!
     I hate the piano!

• piano à queue
• piano droit
• pianoter

→ Turkish:piyano

• “piano”, inTrésor de la langue française informatisé[Digitized Treasury of the French Language],2012.

FromLatinplānus. CompareSicilianchianu.

• IPA^(key):/ˈpja.no/^[1]

• Audio (un piano):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ano
• Hyphenation:pià‧no

piano (femininepiana,masculine pluralpiani,feminine pluralpiane,superlativepianissimo)

1. plane
2. flat,level

   Synonym:piatto

3. plain
4. soft

   Antonym:forte

5. penultimate accented

• pianamente

• levigato
• liscio

piano m (pluralpiani)

1. plane
2. floor,storey(British),story(US)(of a building)
3. plan,tactic,stratagem,scheme,plot
4. (music)piano, as short forpianoforte

• progetto
• proposito

piano (superlativepianissimo)

1. slowly
2. carefully
3. (music)piano

• piano¹ in Treccani.it –Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• piano² in Treccani.it –Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• piano³ in Treccani.it –Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

FromPio +‎-ano.

• IPA^(key):/piˈa.no/^[1]
• Rhymes:-ano
• Hyphenation:pi‧à‧no

piano (femininepiana,masculine pluralpiani,feminine pluralpiane)

1. (relational) of any of the popes namedPius;Pian

   Ordine Piano ―Pian Order,Order of Pope Pius IX

See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.

• IPA^(key):/ˈpi.a.no/^[1]
• Rhymes:-iano
• Hyphenation:pì‧a‧no

piano

1. third-personpluralpresentindicative ofpiare(“to chirp, to cheep”)

• opina,paion

piano

1. Rōmaji transcription ofピアノ

piano (Jawi spellingڤيانو,pluralpiano-piano)

1. piano

• “piano” inPusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur:Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Borrowed fromEnglishpiano, short form ofpianoforte, fromItalianpianoforte, frompiano(“soft”) +forte(“strong”). The Italian wordpiano is fromLatinplānus, fromProto-Indo-European*pleh₂-.

• (phonetic)IPA^(key):[pʲiɑːnʲɔ],(enunciated)[pʲiɑ nʲɔ]
• (phonemic)IPA^(key):/pʲijæɰnʲɛw/
• Bender phonemes:{piyahnew}

piano (construct formpianoin)

1. apiano

piano (person nounri-piano)

1. toplay thepiano

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

Borrowed fromEnglishpiano andFrenchpiano.

piano m (pluralpianos)

1. (Jersey,music)piano

• pianiste(“pianist”)

piano n (definite singularpianoet,indefinite pluralpianoorpianoer,definite pluralpianoaorpianoene)

1. (music)piano

piano n (definite singularpianoet,indefinite pluralpiano,definite pluralpianoa)

1. (music)piano

• IPA^(key):/ˈpja.nɔ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes:-anɔ
• Syllabification:pia‧no

piano f

1. vocativesingular ofpiana

Borrowed fromItalianpiano,^[1] short form ofpianoforte.Doublet ofplano,chão, andporão.

• Rhymes:(Portugal)-ɐnu,(Brazil)-ɐ̃nu
• Hyphenation:pi‧a‧no

piano

1. piano

piano

1. (music)piano,soft
2. (music)piano,slowly

piano m (pluralpianos)

1. (music)piano

• pianista

• → Hunsrik:Piano

Unadapted borrowing fromItalianpiano.

piano

1. piano

• IPA^(key):/ˈpianɔ/

piano

1. musical directive to play softly

piano n (genitivesingularpiana,nominativepluralpianá,genitivepluralpián,declension pattern ofmesto)

1. (music)piano

   Synonym:klavír

2. a very softsound

• “piano”, inSlovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak),https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk,2003–2025

Clipping ofpianoforte, fromItalianpianoforte.

• IPA^(key):/ˈpjano/[ˈpja.no]

• Audio(Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ano
• Syllabification:pia‧no

piano m (pluralpianos)

1. (music)piano

• → Tagalog:piyano
• → Waray-Waray:piyano

• “piano”, inDiccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8,Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish:Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

FromDutchpiano.

• IPA^(key):/piˈ(j)a.no/

piano (Sundanese scriptᮕᮤᮃᮔᮧ)

1. piano

• "PIJANO", inCoolsma, S (1913)Soendaneesch-Hollandsch Woordenboek (in Dutch), Leiden:A.W. Sijthoff's Uitgeversmaatschappij

Borrowed fromEnglishpiano.

piano classIX (pluralpiano classX)

1. piano

• IPA^(key):/ˈpjɑːnʊ/

• Audio:

  (file)

piano (notcomparable)

1. (music)piano

piano n

1. (music) apiano

   Hypernym:klaver(“keyboard instrument”)

• fortepiano
• spikpiano
• ta det piano

• flygel
• klaverinstrument

• piano inSvensk ordbok (SO)
• piano inSvenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• piano inSvenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

piano

1. (music)piano

• Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “пианино”, inUz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[3], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

• (Hà Nội)IPA^(key):[pi˧˧ ʔaː˧˧ no˧˧]
• (Huế)IPA^(key):[pɪj˧˧ ʔaː˧˧ now˧˧]
• (Saigon)IPA^(key):[pɪj˧˧ ʔaː˧˧ now˧˧]
• Phonetic spelling: pi a nô

piano

1. Alternative spelling ofpi-a-nô(“piano”)

Borrowed fromEnglishpiano.

• (North Wales)IPA^(key):/ˈpjano/
• (South Wales)IPA^(key):/ˈpja(ː)no/
• Rhymes:-ano

piano f (pluralpianoauorpianos)

1. (music)piano,pianoforte

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “piano”, inGeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies