piano

See also: Piano, pianó, piáno, and píanó

English

Etymology

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 and the clavichord.

Pronunciation

Noun and Adjective

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

Adverb

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

Noun

piano (plural pianos or piani)

An upright piano

A grand piano

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

   Synonym: pianoforte (dated)

   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

• (keyboard instrument): cembalo, clavichord, fortepiano, harpsichord, organ, synthesizer, synth

Derived terms

terms derived from the noun piano

• barrel piano
• dumb piano
• electric piano
• finger piano
• grand piano
• pianola
• pianist
• piano accordion

• piano player
• pianoist
• piano wire
• player piano
• square piano
• thumb piano
• upright piano

Translations

a keyboard musical instrument

• Albanian: piano (sq) f
• Arabic: بِيَانُو‎‎ m (biyānō), مِعْزَف‎‎ m (miʿzaf)
• Armenian: դաշնամուր (hy) (dašnamur)
• Asturian: pianu m
• Azerbaijani: piano (az), fortepiano, pianino, royal (az)
• Basque: piano (eu)
• Belarusian: фартэпія́на n (fartepijána)
• Bengali: পিয়ানো (piyano)
• 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 (mahāvādya)
• Hebrew: פְּסַנְתֵּר‎‎ (he) m (psantér)
• Hindi: पियानो (hi) m (piyāno), महावाद्य (mahāvādya)
• Hungarian: zongora (hu)
• 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)
• Kazakh: фортепиано (fortepïano), күйсандық (küysandıq)
• Khmer: ប៉្យាណូ (pyaanou)
• Komi-Zyrian: зонгорӧ (zongorö)
• Korean: 피아노 (ko) (piano)
• Kyrgyz: пианино (pianino)
• Lao: ປີອາໂນ (pī ’ā nō)

• Latin: clavile n
• Latvian: klavieres f pl
• Lithuanian: pianinas (lt)
• Macedonian: пија́но n (pijáno), клави́р m (klavír)
• Malay: piano
• Maori: piana
• Marathi: पियानो m (piyāno)
• Mongolian: төгөлдөр хуур (tögöldör huur), 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)
• Polish: pianino (pl) n, fortepian (pl) m
• Portuguese: piano (pt) m
• 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: клавир m

  Roman: klavir (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)
• Turkish: piyano (tr)
• Turkmen: pianino, roýal
• 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, f
• 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.

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)

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

Further reading

• piano on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• NAIOP

---

Albanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piˈanɔ/

Noun

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

1. piano

---

Azerbaijani

Other scripts
Cyrillic	пиано
Roman	piano
Perso-Arabic

Etymology

Ultimately from Italian piano.

Noun

piano (definite accusative pianonu, plural pianolar)

1. 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	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	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	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	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	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	pianolarının

---

Catalan

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. (music) piano

---

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piˈaːnoː/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

piano c (plural piano's, diminutive pianootje n)

1. piano

---

Esperanto

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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

1. piano

Derived terms

• pianisto
• pianistino

---

Finnish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpiɑno/, [ˈpiɑno̞]

Noun

piano

1. 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

Derived terms

• pianisti

Compounds

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

---

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, in French), Paris: CLE International:

     Je suis le docteur Pipo, Pipo.
     Je répare les pianos.
     Piano ! Piano ! Écoute-nous !
     Parle-nous ! Réponds-nous !

     I am Dr. Pipo, Pipo.
     I fix pianos.
     Piano! Piano! Listen to us!
     Talk to us! Answer us!

   • 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, in French), Paris: CLE International:

     Qu'il est lourd !
     Qu'il est lourd à porter le piano !
     Qu'il est lourd !
     Qu'il est lourd à porter le piano !
     Nous venons du grenier.
     Nous descendons l'escalier,
     Avec sur le dos, avec sur le dos, avec sur le dos, le piano !

     It's so heavy!
     It's so heavy carrying the piano!
     It's so heavy!
     It's so heavy carrying the piano!
     We go down from the attic.
     We go down the stairs,
     With on our backs, with on our backs, with on our backs, the piano!

Further reading

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

---

Italian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

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

1. plane
2. flat, level
3. plain
4. soft
5. penultimate accented

Antonyms

• forte

See also

• levigato
• liscio
• piatto

Noun

piano m (plural piani)

1. plane
2. floor, storey (British), story (US) (of a building)
3. plan, tactic, stratagem, scheme, plot
4. piano (musical instrument)

Synonyms

• progetto
• proposito

Adverb

piano

1. slowly
2. carefully

Related terms

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

Anagrams

• opina

---

Japanese

Romanization

piano

1. Rōmaji transcription of ピアノ

---

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. a piano

Related terms

• flygel
• klaver

---

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

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

1. a piano

Related terms

• flygel
• klaver

---

Portuguese

piano

Etymology

From Italian piano, short form of pianoforte.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈpjɐnu/
• 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. piano

Related terms

• pianista

---

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
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

Synonyms

• (piano): klavír

Further reading

• piano in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk

---

Spanish

Etymology

Clipping of pianoforte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpjano/

Noun

piano m (plural pianos)

1. piano

Related terms

• pianista

Further reading

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

---

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

piano n

1. a 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

---

Veps

Noun

piano

1. 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