piano

See also: Piano, pianó, piáno, and píanó

English

Etymology 1

Short form 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/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

piano (plural pianos or piani)

An upright piano

A grand piano

1. (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

   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.

   He can play "Happy Birthday" on the piano.

   Most of the works by Frédéric Chopin are for the piano.

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

Derived terms

• barrel piano
• dumb piano
• electric piano
• finger piano
• grand piano
• pianist
• piano accordion
• pianoist
• pianola
• piano player
• piano wire
• player piano
• square piano
• thumb piano
• upright piano

 

Translations

a keyboard musical instrument

• Afrikaans: klavier
• Albanian: piano (sq) f
• Arabic: بِيَانُو‎ m (biyānō), مِعْزَف‎ m (miʿzaf)
• Armenian: դաշնամուր (hy) (dašnamur), դաշնակ (hy) (dašnak) (Western Armenian)
• Asturian: pianu m
• Azerbaijani: piano (az), fortepiano, pianino, royal (az)
• Basque: piano (eu)
• Belarusian: фартэпія́на n (fartepijána)
• Bengali: পিয়ানো (piẏano)
• Bulgarian: пиа́но n (piáno)
• Burmese: စန္ဒရား (my) (canda.ra:)
• Catalan: piano (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᎤᏔᏅ ᏗᎧᏃᎩᏍᏗ (utanv dikanogisdi), ᏗᏂᏤᎷᎯᏍᎩ (dinitseluhisgi)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 鋼琴 (gong³ kam⁴)

  Mandarin: 鋼琴 (zh), 钢琴 (zh) (gāngqín)

  Min Nan: 鋼琴 (zh-min-nan) (kǹg-khîm)

• Cornish: piano m
• Czech: klavír (cs) m, piáno n, břinkotruhla f
• Danish: klaver (da) n
• Dutch: piano (nl) m
• Esperanto: piano (eo)
• Estonian: klaver
• Finnish: piano (fi); flyygeli (fi) (grand piano)
• French: piano (fr) m
• Galician: piano (gl) m
• Georgian: ფორტეპიანო (ka) (porṭeṗiano), პიანინო (ka) (ṗianino)
• German: Klavier (de) n (common); Piano (de) n (exalted style); Flügel (de) m (grand piano)
• Greek: πιάνο (el) n (piáno), κλειδοκύμβαλο (el) n (kleidokýmvalo)
• Greenlandic: klaveri
• Guaraní: kuãytasã
• Hebrew: פְּסַנְתֵּר‎ (he) m (psantér)
• Hindi: पियानो (hi) m (piyāno), महावाद्य (mahāvādya)
• Hungarian: zongora (hu)
• Hunsrik: Piano m
• Icelandic: píanó (is) n, slagharpa (is) f, fortepíanó n
• Ido: piano (io)
• Irish: pianó m
• Italian: pianoforte (it) m, piano (it) m
• Japanese: ピアノ (ja) (piano), 鋼琴 (ja) (kōkin)
• Kazakh: фортепиано (fortepïano), күйсандық (küysandıq)
• Khmer: ប៉្យាណូ (pyaanou)
• Komi-Zyrian: зонгорӧ (zongorö)
• Korean: 피아노 (ko) (piano)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: piyano (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: пианино (pianino)
• Lao: ປີອາໂນ (pī ʼā nō)
• Latin: clavile n

• Latvian: klavieres f pl
• Lithuanian: pianinas (lt), fortepijonas (lt)
• Macedonian: пија́но n (pijáno), клави́р m (klavír)
• Malagasy: valihavata
• Malay: piano (ms)
• Malayalam: പിയാനോ (ml) (piyānō)
• Maltese: pjanu m
• Maori: piana
• Marathi: पियानो m (piyāno)
• Mongolian: төгөлдөр хуур (tögöldör khuur), ᠲᠡᠭᠦᠯᠳᠡᠷ
  ᠬᠤᠭᠤᠷ (tegülder quɣur)
• Nahuatl: pianotli (nah)
• Navajo: biwooʼ hólóní, dilní náníltąshígíí
• Norman: piano m
• North Frisian: (Föhr-Amrum) klawiar n
• Norwegian: piano (no) n
• Persian: پیانو‎ (fa) (piyâno)
• Plautdietsch: Piano f
• Polish: pianino (pl) n, fortepian (pl) m
• Portuguese: piano (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਪਿਆਨੋ (piāno)
• Quechua: yatana qallwa
• Romanian: pian (ro) n
• Russian: пиани́но (ru) n (pianíno), фортепиа́но (ru) n (fortɛpiáno), роя́ль (ru) m (rojálʹ) (grand piano)
• Scottish Gaelic: piàna m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кла̀вӣр m

  Roman: klàvīr (sh) m

• Slovak: klavír m
• Slovene: klavir (sl) m
• Spanish: piano (es) m
• Swahili: kinanda (sw), piano (sw)
• Swedish: piano (sv) n
• Tagalog: piyano
• Tajik: пианино (pianino)
• Tamil: பியானோ (piyāṉō), கின்னரப்பெட்டி (kiṉṉarappeṭṭi)
• Thai: เปียโน (th) (bpiia-noo)
• Tibetan: རྣོ་སྦྲེང (rno sbreng)
• Turkish: piyano (tr)
• Turkmen: pianino, roýal
• Udmurt: рояль (rojalʹ)
• Ukrainian: фортепіа́но (uk) n (fortepiáno)
• Urdu: پیانو‎ m (piyāno)
• Uyghur: پيانىنو‎ (pyanino)
• Uzbek: pianino (uz)
• Vietnamese: dương cầm (vi)
• Volapük: pianod (vo)
• Welsh: piano m, perdoneg m or f
• Western Panjabi: پیانو‎
• Yiddish: פּיאַנע‎ f (pyane), קלאַוויר‎ m (klavir)
• Zhuang: ganghginz
• Zulu: iPiyano (zu)

Adjective

piano (comparative more piano, superlative most piano)

1. (music) soft, quiet
2. in extended use; quiet, subdued
   • 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society 2010, page 160:

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

Etymology 2

From Italian piano.

Pronunciation

• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /piˈɑnoʊ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /piˈɑːnəʊ/

Adverb

Piano notation.

piano (not comparable)

1. (music) softly, as a musical direction (abbreviated to p. in sheet music) [from 17th c.]

Related terms

• mezzo piano, mp
• pianissimo, pp

 

Translations

music: softly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: piano (fi), hiljaa (fi)
• German: piano (de)
• Icelandic: veikur (is)
• Irish: pianó

• Italian: piano (it)
• Portuguese: piano (pt)
• Russian: пиа́но (ru) (piáno)
• Slovak: piano
• Spanish: piano (es)

Further reading

• piano on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• NAIOP

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Albanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piˈanɔ/

Noun

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

1. (music) piano

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Azerbaijani

Other scripts
Cyrillic		пиано
Roman		piano
Perso-Arabic

Etymology

Ultimately from Italian piano.

Noun

piano (definite accusative pianonu, plural pianolar)

1. (music) piano

Declension

Declension of piano

	singular	plural
nominative	piano	pianolar
definite accusative	pianonu	pianoları
dative	pianoya	pianolara
locative	pianoda	pianolarda
ablative	pianodan	pianolardan
definite genitive	pianonun	pianoların

Possessive forms of piano

	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	pianom	pianolarım
sənin (“your”)	pianon	pianoların
onun (“his/her/its”)	pianosu	pianoları
bizim (“our”)	pianomuz	pianolarımız
sizin (“your”)	pianonuz	pianolarınız
onların (“their”)	pianosu or pianoları	pianoları
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	pianomu	pianolarımı
sənin (“your”)	pianonu	pianolarını
onun (“his/her/its”)	pianosunu	pianolarını
bizim (“our”)	pianomuzu	pianolarımızı
sizin (“your”)	pianonuzu	pianolarınızı
onların (“their”)	pianosunu or pianolarını	pianolarını
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	pianoma	pianolarıma
sənin (“your”)	pianona	pianolarına
onun (“his/her/its”)	pianosuna	pianolarına
bizim (“our”)	pianomuza	pianolarımıza
sizin (“your”)	pianonuza	pianolarınıza
onların (“their”)	pianosuna or pianolarına	pianolarına
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	pianomda	pianolarımda
sənin (“your”)	pianonda	pianolarında
onun (“his/her/its”)	pianosunda	pianolarında
bizim (“our”)	pianomuzda	pianolarımızda
sizin (“your”)	pianonuzda	pianolarınızda
onların (“their”)	pianosunda or pianolarında	pianolarında
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	pianomdan	pianolarımdan
sənin (“your”)	pianondan	pianolarından
onun (“his/her/its”)	pianosundan	pianolarından
bizim (“our”)	pianomuzdan	pianolarımızdan
sizin (“your”)	pianonuzdan	pianolarınızdan
onların (“their”)	pianosundan or pianolarından	pianolarından
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	pianomun	pianolarımın
sənin (“your”)	pianonun	pianolarının
onun (“his/her/its”)	pianosunun	pianolarının
bizim (“our”)	pianomuzun	pianolarımızın
sizin (“your”)	pianonuzun	pianolarınızın
onların (“their”)	pianosunun or pianolarının	pianolarının

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /piˈa.no/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /piˈa.nu/

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano

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Czech

Etymology

From Italian piano

Pronunciation

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

Noun

piano n

1. (music) piano

   Synonyms: klavír, klimpr

Declension

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	piano	piana
genitive	piana	pian
dative	pianu	pianům
accusative	piano	piana
vocative	piano	piana
locative	pianě, pianu	pianech
instrumental	pianem	piany

Further reading

• piano in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• piano in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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Dutch

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piˈaːnoː/

• audio

  (file)

• 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/
• Hyphenation: pi‧a‧no
• Rhymes: -ano
• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

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

1. (music) piano

Derived terms

• pianistino
• pianisto

 

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Finnish

Etymology

From Italian piano.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

piano

1. (music) piano

Declension

Inflection of piano (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative		piano	pianot
genitive		pianon	pianojen
partitive		pianoa	pianoja
illative		pianoon	pianoihin
		singular	plural
nominative		piano	pianot
accusative	nom.	piano	pianot
	gen.	pianon
genitive		pianon	pianojen
partitive		pianoa	pianoja
inessive		pianossa	pianoissa
elative		pianosta	pianoista
illative		pianoon	pianoihin
adessive		pianolla	pianoilla
ablative		pianolta	pianoilta
allative		pianolle	pianoille
essive		pianona	pianoina
translative		pianoksi	pianoiksi
instructive		—	pianoin
abessive		pianotta	pianoitta
comitative		—	pianoineen

Possessive forms of piano (type valo)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	pianoni	pianomme
2nd person	pianosi	pianonne
3rd person	pianonsa

Derived terms

• pianisti

Compounds

• konserttipiano
• pianohaitari
• pianoharmonikka
• pianokappale
• pianokonsertti
• pianokonsertto
• pianokoulu
• pianokvartetti
• pianokvartetto
• pianokvintetti
• pianokvintetto
• pianomusiikki
• pianonkieli
• piano-oppilas
• pianosolisti
• pianosonaatti
• pianosoolo
• pianosovitus
• pianosävellys
• pianoteos
• pianotrio
• pianotunti
• pianotuoli
• sähköpiano
• taffelipiano

 

Anagrams

• apoin, paino, paoin, pinoa, ponia

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French

Etymology

From Italian piano. Doublet of plain and plan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pja.no/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano
   • 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!

Derived terms

• piano à queue
• piano droit

Further reading

• “piano” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin plānus, from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpja.no/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

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

1. plane
2. flat, level

   Synonym: piatto

3. plain
4. soft

   Antonym: forte

5. penultimate accented

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

• piana
• pianificazione
• pianista
• pianola
• piano piano / pian piano

 

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

Anagrams

• opina

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Japanese

Romanization

piano

1. Rōmaji transcription of ピアノ

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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: {piyahnew}

Noun

piano (construct form pianoin)

1. a piano

Verb

piano (person noun ri-piano)

1. to play the piano

References

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

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Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from English piano and French piano.

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (Jersey, music) piano

Derived terms

• pianiste (“pianist”)

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Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

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

1. (music) piano

Related terms

• flygel
• klaver

 

---

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

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

1. (music) piano

Related terms

• flygel
• klaver

 

---

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpʲa.nɔ/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

piano f

1. vocative singular of piana

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Portuguese

piano

Etymology

From Italian piano, short form of pianoforte.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈpj.ɐ.nu/
• Hyphenation: pi‧a‧no

Adjective

piano

1. piano

Adverb

piano (comparative mais piano superlative o mais piano)

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

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano

Related terms

• pianista

Descendants

• → Hunsrik: Piano

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Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpianɔ/

Adverb

piano

1. musical directive to play softly

Noun

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

1. (music) piano

   Synonym: klavír

2. a very soft sound

Declension

Declension of piano

	singular	plural
nominative	piano	pianá
genitive	piana	pián
dative	pianu	pianám
accusative	piano	pianá
locative	piane	pianách
instrumental	pianom	pianami

Further reading

• piano in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk

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Spanish

Etymology

Clipping of pianoforte.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano

Derived terms

• piano de cola
• piano de media cola

 

Related terms

• pianista

Descendants

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

Further reading

• “piano” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

piano n

1. (music) piano

Declension

Declension of piano
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	piano	pianot	pianon	pianona
Genitive	pianos	pianots	pianons	pianonas

See also

• ta det piano
• flygel

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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

Inflection of piano
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	?	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	?	pianoihesai
terminative II	pianolesai	pianoilesai
terminative III	pianossai	—
additive I	?	pianoihepäi
additive II	pianolepäi	pianoilepäi

References

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