Standard Lemma guide

pianist

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpi.ənɪst/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, US: /ˈpi.ənɪst/
  • Canada, US: /piˈænɪst/
  • rhymes with (US, Canada) -ænɪst
  • CMU ARPABET: P IY0 AE1 N AH0 S T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: P IY0 AA1 N AH0 S T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 3: P IY1 AH0 N IH0 S T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A person who plays the piano, particularly with skill or as part of an orchestra.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

Examples

  • By the time she became the world's greatest pianist, she had already practised for thousands of hours on her prized piano.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A spy using radio or wireless telegraphy to keep in touch with headquarters during the Second World War.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a person who plays the piano

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: piano player

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: musician, instrumentalist, player

Narrower terms: Bartok, Bela Bartok, Blitzstein, Marc Blitzstein, Chopin, Frederic Francois Chopin, Czerny, Karl Czerny, Falla, Manuel de Falla, Hess, Dame Myra Hess, Horowitz, Vladimir Horowitz, Lewis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Liszt, Franz Liszt, Paderewski, Ignace Paderewski, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Poulenc, Francis Poulenc, Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov, Rubinstein, Anton Rubenstein, Anton Gregor Rubinstein, Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein, Arthur Rubinstein, Artur Rubinstein, Saint-Saens, Charles Camille Saint-Saens, Schnabel, Artur Schnabel, Schumann, Clara Josephine Schumann, Serkin, Rudolf Serkin

History

Etymology

From French pianiste, from Italian pianista. Analyzable as piano + -ist.

Across languages

Translations

81 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: عَازِف بِيَانُو (ʕāzif biyānō) — person who plays the piano
  • Armenian: դաշնակահար (dašnakahar) — person who plays the piano
  • Asturian: pianista — person who plays the piano
  • Belarusian: піяні́ст (pijaníst) — person who plays the piano
  • Belarusian: піяні́стка (pijanístka) — person who plays the piano
  • Bulgarian: пиани́ст (pianíst) — person who plays the piano
  • Catalan: pianista — person who plays the piano
  • Chinese Cantonese: 鋼琴家 /钢琴家 (gong3 kam4 gaa1) — person who plays the piano
  • Chinese Cantonese: 司琴 (si1 kam4) — person who plays the piano
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鋼琴家 /钢琴家 (gāngqínjiā) — person who plays the piano
  • Chinese Mandarin: 司琴 (sīqín) — person who plays the piano
  • Czech: klavírista — person who plays the piano
  • Czech: pianista — person who plays the piano
  • Danish: pianist — person who plays the piano
  • Dutch: pianist — person who plays the piano
  • Dutch: pianiste — person who plays the piano
  • Dutch: pianospeler — person who plays the piano
  • Dutch: pianospeelster — person who plays the piano
  • Esperanto: pianisto — person who plays the piano
  • Esperanto: pianistino — person who plays the piano
  • Estonian: pianist — person who plays the piano
  • Estonian: klaverimängija — person who plays the piano
  • Finnish: pianisti — person who plays the piano
  • Finnish: pianonsoittaja — person who plays the piano
  • French: pianiste — person who plays the piano
  • Galician: pianista — person who plays the piano
  • Georgian: პიანისტი (ṗianisṭi) — person who plays the piano
  • German: Pianist — person who plays the piano
  • German: Pianistin — person who plays the piano
  • German: Klavierspieler — person who plays the piano
  • German: Klavierspielerin — person who plays the piano
  • Greek: πιανίστας (pianístas) — person who plays the piano
  • Hebrew: פְּסַנְתְּרָן (psantrán) — person who plays the piano
  • Hebrew: פסנתרנית — person who plays the piano
  • Hungarian: zongorista — person who plays the piano
  • Hungarian: zongoraművész — person who plays the piano
  • Icelandic: píanóleikari — person who plays the piano
  • Icelandic: píanisti — person who plays the piano
  • Irish: pianódóir — person who plays the piano
  • Irish: oirfideach pianó — person who plays the piano
  • Italian: pianista — person who plays the piano
  • Japanese: ピアニスト (pianisuto) — person who plays the piano
  • Kazakh: пианиношы (pianinoşy) — person who plays the piano
  • Korean: 피아니스트 (pianiseuteu) — person who plays the piano
  • Latin: pianistus — person who plays the piano
  • Macedonian: пијани́ст (pijaníst) — person who plays the piano
  • Macedonian: пијани́стка (pijanístka) — person who plays the piano
  • Malay: pemain piano — person who plays the piano
  • Māori: kaiwhakatangi piana — person who plays the piano
  • Māori: kaipatu piana — person who plays the piano
  • Norman: pianiste — person who plays the piano
  • Norwegian Bokmål: pianist — person who plays the piano
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: pianist — person who plays the piano
  • Persian: پیانیست (piyânist) — person who plays the piano
  • Polish: pianista — person who plays the piano
  • Polish: pianistka — person who plays the piano
  • Portuguese: pianista — person who plays the piano
  • Romanian: pianist — person who plays the piano
  • Romanian: pianistă — person who plays the piano
  • Russian: пиани́ст (pianíst) — person who plays the piano
  • Russian: пиани́стка (pianístka) — person who plays the piano
  • Serbo-Croatian: пија̀нист — person who plays the piano
  • Serbo-Croatian: пија̀нистица — person who plays the piano
  • Serbo-Croatian: клавѝрист — person who plays the piano
  • Serbo-Croatian: гласовѝра̄ч — person who plays the piano
  • Serbo-Croatian: pijànist — person who plays the piano
  • Serbo-Croatian: pijànistica — person who plays the piano
  • Serbo-Croatian: klavìrist — person who plays the piano
  • Serbo-Croatian: glasovìrāč — person who plays the piano
  • Slovak: klavirista — person who plays the piano
  • Slovene: pianist — person who plays the piano
  • Slovene: pianistka — person who plays the piano
  • Spanish: pianista — person who plays the piano
  • Swedish: pianist — person who plays the piano
  • Tagalog: piyanista — person who plays the piano
  • Thai: นักเปียโน (nák-bpiia-noo) — person who plays the piano
  • Ukrainian: піані́ст (pianíst) — person who plays the piano
  • Ukrainian: піані́стка (pianístka) — person who plays the piano
  • Volapük: pianodan — person who plays the piano
  • Volapük: hipianodan — person who plays the piano
  • Volapük: jipianodan — person who plays the piano
Real reading context

pianist in complete knowledge articles