piano

English Online Dictionary. What means piano‎? What does piano mean?

English

Etymology 1

Clipping of pianoforte, from Italian pianoforte, from piano (“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 the harpsichord. Doublet of llano, plain, and plane.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

piano (plural pianos or (archaic) pianoes)

2. (music) A percussive keyboard musical instrument, usually ranging over seven octaves, with white and black colored keys, played by pressing these keys, causing hammers to strike strings. [from 1803]

   Synonym: (dated) pianoforte

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

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

piano (third-person singular simple present pianos, present participle pianoing, simple past and past participle pianoed)

1. To play the piano.
2. (of or with fingers) To move (the fingers) up and down on, similar to the motions of a pianist playing the piano.
3. To equip with a piano.

References

Etymology 2

From Italian piano.

Pronunciation

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

Adverb

piano (comparative more piano, superlative most piano)

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

   (abbreviation) p

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

piano (comparative more piano, superlative most piano)

1. (music) Soft, quiet.
2. (in extended use) Gentle, soft, subdued.

Verb

piano (third-person singular simple present pianos, present participle pianoing, simple past and past participle pianoed)

1. To become softer and less intense.

Further reading

• piano on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• NAIOP

Albanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piˈanɔ/

Noun

piano f (plural piano, definite pianoja, definite plural pianot)

1. (music) piano

Azerbaijani

Etymology

Ultimately from Italian piano.

Pronunciation

Noun

piano (definite accusative pianonu, plural pianolar)

1. (music) piano

Declension

Catalan

Pronunciation

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

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano

Czech

Etymology

Derived from Italian piano.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

piano n

1. (music) piano

   Synonyms: klavír, klimpr

Declension

Further reading

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

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French piano, from Italian piano, shortening of pianoforte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piˈaːnoː/
• Hyphenation: pi‧a‧no
• Rhymes: -aːnoː

Noun

piano f or n (plural piano's, diminutive pianootje n)

1. (music) piano

   Synonym: pianoforte

Derived terms

• pianobouwer
• pianoles
• pianospel

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [piˈano]
• Rhymes: -ano
• Hyphenation: pi‧a‧no

Noun

piano (accusative singular pianon, plural pianoj, accusative plural pianojn)

1. (music) piano

Derived terms

Finnish

Etymology

From Italian piano.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

piano

1. (music) piano

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• “piano”, in Kielitoimiston 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–, retrieved 2023-07-03

Anagrams

• apoin, paino, paoin, pinoa, ponia

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian piano. Doublet of plain and plan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pja.no/

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano

Derived terms

• piano à queue
• piano droit

Descendants

→ Turkish: piyano

Further reading

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

Italian

Etymology 1

From Latin plānus. Compare Sicilian chianu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpja.no/
• Rhymes: -ano
• Hyphenation: pià‧no

Adjective

piano (feminine piana, masculine plural piani, feminine plural piane, superlative pianissimo)

1. plane
2. flat, level

   Synonym: piatto

3. plain
4. soft

   Antonym: forte

5. penultimate accented

Derived terms

• pianamente

See also

• levigato
• liscio

Noun

piano m (plural piani)

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

Synonyms

• progetto
• proposito

Adverb

piano (superlative pianissimo)

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

Related terms

Further reading

• 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

Etymology 2

From Pio +‎ -ano.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

piano (feminine piana, masculine plural piani, feminine plural piane)

1. (relational) of any of the popes named Pius; Pian

   Ordine Piano ― Pian Order, Order of Pope Pius IX

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

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

Verb

piano

1. third-person plural present indicative of piare (“to chirp, to cheep”)

Anagrams

• opina, paion

Japanese

Romanization

piano

1. Rōmaji transcription of ピアノ

Malay

Noun

piano (Jawi spelling ڤيانو, plural piano-piano, informal 1st possessive pianoku, 2nd possessive pianomu, 3rd possessive pianonya)

1. piano

Further reading

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

Marshallese

Etymology

Borrowed from English piano, short form of pianoforte, from Italian pianoforte, from piano (“soft”) + forte (“strong”). The Italian word piano is from Latin plānus, from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

piano (construct form pianoin)

1. a piano

Verb

piano (person noun ri-piano)

1. to play the piano

References

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from English piano and French piano.

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (Jersey, music) piano

Derived terms

• pianiste (“pianist”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

piano n (definite singular pianoet, indefinite plural piano or pianoer, definite plural pianoa or pianoene)

1. (music) piano

Related terms

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

piano n (definite singular pianoet, indefinite plural piano, definite plural pianoa)

1. (music) piano

Related terms

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpja.nɔ/
• Rhymes: -anɔ
• Syllabification: pia‧no

Noun

piano f

1. vocative singular of piana

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian piano, short form of pianoforte. Doublet of plano, chão, and porão.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

piano

1. piano

Adverb

piano

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

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano

Derived terms

• pianista

Descendants

• → Hunsrik: Piano

References

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Italian piano.

Adverb

piano

1. piano

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpianɔ/

Adverb

piano

1. musical directive to play softly

Noun

piano n (genitive singular piana, nominative plural pianá, genitive plural pián, declension pattern of mesto)

1. (music) piano

   Synonym: klavír

2. a very soft sound

Declension

Further reading

• “piano”, in Slovníkový 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, 2003–2024

Spanish

Etymology

Clipping of pianoforte, from Italian pianoforte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpjano/ [ˈpja.no]
• Rhymes: -ano
• Syllabification: pia‧no

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

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

Further reading

• “piano”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Swahili

Etymology

Borrowed from English piano.

Noun

piano (n class, plural piano)

1. piano

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpjɑːnʊ/

Adverb

piano (not comparable)

1. (music) piano

Noun

piano n

1. (music) a piano

   Hypernym: klaver (“keyboard instrument”)

Declension

Derived terms

• fortepiano
• spikpiano
• ta det piano

See also

• flygel
• klaverinstrument

References

• piano in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• piano in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• piano in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Veps

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

piano

1. (music) piano

Inflection

References

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

Welsh

Etymology

Borrowed from English piano.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

piano f (plural pianoau or pianos)

1. (music) piano, pianoforte

Mutation

References

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