piano

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.

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

• Audio (Southern England):

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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

   The piano in his house takes up a lot of space.

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

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

1. To play the piano.
   • 1967, Harry F. Chaplin, A McCrae Miscellany, page 41:

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

   • 1978, Bertha Harris, Confessions of Cherubino, page 96:

     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!, page 138:

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

   • 2020, Becky Manawatu, Auē, page 139:

     We guitared and drummed and head banged and pianoed.

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, page 29:

     He just stared at her, leaned back in his chair and pianoed 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, and pianoed the little coffin with his fingers, tapping out his grievance.

   • 2020, Simon Lelic, The Search Party:

     The superintendent pianoed his fingers on the surface of a nearby desk.

   • 2021, Emilya Naymark, Hide in Place:

     Holly pianoed her fingers over her throat.

3. To equip with a piano.
   • 1889, The Engineering Record, Building Record and Sanitary Engineer, page 128:

     Other buildings will also be erected and pianoed by the same architect.

   • 1892, The Japan Daily Mail - Volume 18, page 772:

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

From Italian piano.

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

piano (comparative more piano, superlative most piano)

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

   (abbreviation) p

piano (comparative more piano, superlative most piano)

1. (music) Soft, quiet.
2. (in extended use) Gentle, soft, subdued.
   • 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter XVIII, in Persuasion; published in Northanger 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 too piano for me […] ”

   • 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 160:

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

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

1. To become softer and less intense.
   • 1839, Rosina Doyle Bulwer afterwards Bulwer Lytton (Baroness Lytton.), Cheveley; Or, The Man of Honour, page 385:

     “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, page 83:

     His tone pianoed on intimacy.

   • 2009, David Lau, Virgil and the Mountain Cat, page 61:

     A day pianoed, swelled acutest, pianoed.

• piano on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• NAIOP

• IPA^(key): /piˈanɔ/

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

1. (music) piano

Ultimately from Italian piano.

• Audio:

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piano (definite accusative pianonu, plural pianolar)

1. (music) piano

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

• Audio (Catalonia):

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piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano

From English or Italian piano.

• IPA^(key): /piˈanɔʊ/

piano m (plural pianos)

1. piano

Derived from Italian piano.

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

piano n

1. (music) piano

   Synonyms: klavír, klimpr

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

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

• IPA^(key): /piˈaːnoː/

• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: pi‧a‧no
• Rhymes: -aːnoː

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

1. (music) piano

   Synonym: pianoforte

• pianobouwer
• pianoles
• pianospel

• → Indonesian: piano

• IPA^(key): /piˈano/

• Audio 1:

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• Audio 2:

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• Rhymes: -ano
• Syllabification: pi‧a‧no

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

1. (music) piano

From Italian piano.

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

piano

1. (music) piano

• “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 3 July 2023

• apoin, paino, paoin, pinoa, ponia

Borrowed from Italian piano. Doublet of plain and plan.

• IPA^(key): /pja.no/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Agen)):

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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piano m (plural pianos)

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]”, in Il était une fois … une petite grenouille [There Once Was… a Little Frog] (fiction), Paris: CLE International:

     Je n’aime pas le piano. 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 le piano !

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

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

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /piˈano/ [piˈa.no]
• Rhymes: -ano
• Syllabification: pi‧a‧no

piano (plural piano-piano)

1. (music) piano

• “piano”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

From Latin plānus. Compare Sicilian chianu.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpja.no/^[1]

• Audio (un piano):

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• Rhymes: -ano
• Hyphenation: pià‧no

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

• pianamente

• levigato
• liscio

piano m (plural piani)

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

• progetto
• proposito

piano (superlative pianissimo)

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

From Pio +‎ -ano.

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

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

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

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

piano

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

• opina, paion

piano

1. Rōmaji transcription of ピアノ

piano (Jawi spelling ڤيانو, plural piano-piano or piano²)

1. piano

• "piano" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Borrowed from English piano.

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

piano (construct form pianoin)

1. a piano

piano (person noun ri-piano)

1. to play the piano

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

Borrowed from English piano and French piano.

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (Jersey, music) piano

• pianiste (“pianist”)

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

1. (music) piano

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

1. (music) piano

• IPA^(key): /ˈpja.nɔ/

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -anɔ
• Syllabification: pia‧no

piano f

1. vocative singular of piana

Borrowed from Italian piano,^[1] short form of pianoforte. Doublet of plano, chão, and porão.

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

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

piano

1. piano

piano

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

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano

• pianista

• → Hunsrik: Piano

• “piano”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “piano”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Unadapted borrowing from Italian piano.

piano

1. piano

• IPA^(key): /pianɔ/, [ˈpianɔ]
• Rhymes: -anɔ
• Hyphenation: pi‧a‧no

Borrowed from Italian piano. First attested in the 19th century.^[1]

piano

1. (music) piano (softly)

   Antonyms: ticho, potichu

   Antonym: forte

   Spevák požiadal kapelu, aby v tejto časti hrala piano. ― The singer asked the band to play piano in this section.

piano n

1. (music) piano (a soft or quiet tone/passsage)

   Antonym: forte

   Po dramatickom forte orchester plynule prešiel do piana. ― After the dramatic forte, the orchestra smoothly shifted into piano.

Derived from Italian piano(forte).

piano n

1. (music, colloquial) piano (a stringed keyboard instrument with a hammer action)

   Synonym: klavír

   Po rokoch šetrenia si konečne kúpil nové piano. ― After years of saving, he finally bought a new piano.

piano (indeclinable)

1. (colloquial, relational) piano

   Synonyms: klavírny, klavírový

   Album obsahuje viaceré piano skladby, ktoré vznikli počas turné. ― The album includes several piano pieces composed during the tour.

• “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, 2003–2026

Clipping of pianoforte, from Italian pianoforte.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpjano/ [ˈpja.no]

• Audio (Colombia):

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• Rhymes: -ano
• Syllabification: pia‧no

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano

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

• “piano”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

From Dutch piano.

• IPA^(key): /piˈ(j)a.no/

piano (Sundanese script ᮕᮤᮃᮔᮧ)

1. piano

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

Borrowed from English piano.

piano class IX (plural piano class X)

1. piano

• IPA^(key): /ˈpjɑːnʊ/

• Audio:

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piano (not comparable)

1. (music) piano

piano n

1. (music) a piano

   Hypernym: klaver (“keyboard instrument”)

   spela piano

   play the piano

• fortepiano
• spikpiano
• ta det piano

• flygel
• klaverinstrument

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

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

piano

1. (music) piano

Inflection of piano (inflection type 1/ilo)
nominative sing.	piano
genitive sing.	pianon
partitive sing.	pianod
partitive plur.	pianoid
	singular	plural
nominative	piano	pianod
accusative	pianon	pianod
genitive	pianon	pianoiden
partitive	pianod	pianoid
essive-instructive	pianon	pianoin
translative	pianoks	pianoikš
inessive	pianos	pianoiš
elative	pianospäi	pianoišpäi
illative	pianoho	pianoihe
adessive	pianol	pianoil
ablative	pianolpäi	pianoilpäi
allative	pianole	pianoile
abessive	pianota	pianoita
comitative	pianonke	pianoidenke
prolative	pianodme	pianoidme
approximative I	pianonno	pianoidenno
approximative II	pianonnoks	pianoidennoks
egressive	pianonnopäi	pianoidennopäi
terminative I	pianohosai	pianoihesai
terminative II	pianolesai	pianoilesai
terminative III	pianossai	—
additive I	pianohopäi	pianoihepäi
additive II	pianolepäi	pianoilepäi

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “пианино”, in Uz’ 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 of pi-a-nô (“piano”)

Borrowed from English piano.

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

piano m or f (plural pianoau or pianos)

1. piano, pianoforte

   Synonym: (literary) perdoneg

• harpsicord (“harpsichord”)

• D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “piano”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
• 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