adj
Meaning 1
Soft, quiet.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
piano
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.
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Received-Pronunciation: /piˈɑːnəʊ/
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpjɑːnəʊ/
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Canada, General-American: /piˈænoʊ/
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Canada, General-American: /piˈɑnoʊ/
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UK: /ˈpjænəʊ/
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UK: /piˈænəʊ/
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Canada, US: /piˈænoʊ/
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US, dated, dialectal: /piˈænɪː/
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US, dated, dialectal: /piˈænə/
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nonstandard, obsolete: /paɪˈænoʊ/
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nonstandard, obsolete: /paɪˈænə/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: P IY0 AE1 N OW0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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CMU ARPABET 2: P IY0 AE1 N AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Gentle, soft, subdued.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 3
Softly, as a dynamic in a piece of music.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
Examples
- (abbreviation) p
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 4
A surname from Italian.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
Examples
- 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.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: pianoforte
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To play the piano.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To move (the fingers) up and down on, similar to the motions of a pianist playing the piano.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 8
To equip with a piano.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 9
To become softer and less intense.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 10
used chiefly as a direction or description in music
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the piano passages in the composition
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: soft
Antonyms: forte
adverb
Meaning 11
used as a direction in music; to be played relatively softly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: softly
Antonyms: forte
noun
Meaning 12
a keyboard instrument that is played by depressing keys that cause hammers to strike tuned strings and produce sounds
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: pianoforte, forte-piano
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: keyboard instrument, percussion instrument, percussive instrument, stringed instrument
Narrower terms: grand piano, grand, mechanical piano, Pianola, player piano, upright, upright piano
noun
Meaning 13
(music) low loudness
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: pianissimo
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: softness
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian 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.
Across languages
Translations
152 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Chinese Mandarin: 輕柔地 /轻柔地 (qīngróu de) — music: softly
- Finnish: piano — music: softly
- Finnish: hiljaa — music: softly
- German: piano — music: softly
- Icelandic: veikur — music: softly
- Irish: pianó — music: softly
- Italian: piano — music: softly
- Japanese: ピアノ (piano) — music: softly
- Portuguese: piano — music: softly
- Romanian: piano — music: softly
- Russian: пиа́но (piáno) — music: softly
- Slovak: piano — music: softly
- Spanish: piano — music: softly
- Afrikaans: klavier — a keyboard musical instrument
- Albanian: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Amharic: ፒያኖ (piyano) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Arabic: بِيَانُو (biyānō) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Arabic: مِعْزَف (miʕzaf) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Arabic: بِيانو (biyānu, piyānu) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Armenian: դաշնամուր (dašnamur) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Armenian: դաշնակ (dašnak) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Asturian: pianu — a keyboard musical instrument
- Azerbaijani: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Azerbaijani: fortepiano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Azerbaijani: pianino — a keyboard musical instrument
- Azerbaijani: royal — a keyboard musical instrument
- Basque: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Belarusian: фартэпія́на (fartepijána) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Bemba: icinanda class 7 — a keyboard musical instrument
- Bengali: পিয়ানো (piẏanō) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Bulgarian: пиа́но (piáno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Burmese: စန္ဒရား (canda.ra:) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Catalan: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Cherokee: ᎤᏔᏅ ᏗᎧᏃᎩᏍᏗ (utanv dikanogisdi) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Cherokee: ᏗᏂᏤᎷᎯᏍᎩ (dinitseluhisgi) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Chinese Cantonese: 鋼琴 /钢琴 (gong3 kam4) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Chinese: 鋼琴 /钢琴 (zh-min-nan) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Chinese Mandarin: 鋼琴 /钢琴 (gāngqín) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Cornish: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Corsican: pianuforte — a keyboard musical instrument
- Corsican: pianu — a keyboard musical instrument
- Czech: klavír — a keyboard musical instrument
- Czech: piáno — a keyboard musical instrument
- Czech: břinkotruhla — a keyboard musical instrument
- Danish: klaver — a keyboard musical instrument
- Dutch: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Esperanto: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Estonian: klaver — a keyboard musical instrument
- Finnish: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Finnish: flyygeli — a keyboard musical instrument
- French: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- North Frisian: klawiar — a keyboard musical instrument
- Galician: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Georgian: ფორტეპიანო (porṭeṗiano) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Georgian: პიანინო (ṗianino) — a keyboard musical instrument
- German: Klavier — a keyboard musical instrument
- German: Piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- German: Flügel — a keyboard musical instrument
- Greek: πιάνο (piáno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Greek: κλειδοκύμβαλο (kleidokýmvalo) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Greenlandic: klaveri — a keyboard musical instrument
- Hebrew: פְּסַנְתֵּר (psantér) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Hindi: पियानो (piyāno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Hindi: महावाद्य (mahāvādya) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Hungarian: zongora — a keyboard musical instrument
- Hunsrik: Piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Icelandic: píanó — a keyboard musical instrument
- Icelandic: slagharpa — a keyboard musical instrument
- Icelandic: fortepíanó — a keyboard musical instrument
- Ido: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Indonesian: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Irish: pianó — a keyboard musical instrument
- Isoko: ịpiano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Italian: pianoforte — a keyboard musical instrument
- Italian: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Japanese: ピアノ (piano) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Kazakh: фортепиано (fortepiano) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Kazakh: күйсандық (küisandyq) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Khmer: ប៉្យាណូ (pyaanou) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Komi-Zyrian: зонгорӧ (zongorö) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Korean: 피아노 (piano) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Northern Kurdish: piyano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Kyrgyz: пианино (pianino) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Ladino: pyano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Lao: ປີອາໂນ (pī ʼā nō) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Latin: clavile — a keyboard musical instrument
- Latvian: klavieres — a keyboard musical instrument
- Lithuanian: pianinas — a keyboard musical instrument
- Lithuanian: fortepijonas — a keyboard musical instrument
- Macedonian: пија́но (pijáno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Macedonian: кла́вир (klávir) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Malagasy: valihavata — a keyboard musical instrument
- Malay: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Malayalam: പിയാനോ (piyānō) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Maltese: pjanu — a keyboard musical instrument
- Māori: piana — a keyboard musical instrument
- Marathi: पियानो (piyāno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Mongolian: төгөлдөр хуур (tögöldör xuur) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Mongolian: ᠲᠡᠭᠦᠯᠳᠡᠷ ᠬᠤᠭᠤᠷ (tegülder quɣur) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Nahuatl: pianotli — a keyboard musical instrument
- Navajo: biwooʼ hólóní — a keyboard musical instrument
- Navajo: dilní náníltąshígíí — a keyboard musical instrument
- Norman: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Norwegian Bokmål: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Nǀuu: klafirsi — a keyboard musical instrument
- Iranian Persian: پِیانو (piyâno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Plautdietsch: Piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Polish: pianino — a keyboard musical instrument
- Polish: fortepian — a keyboard musical instrument
- Portuguese: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Punjabi: ਪਿਆਨੋ (piāno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Punjabi: پیانو (peyāno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Quechua: yatana qallwa — a keyboard musical instrument
- Romanian: pian — a keyboard musical instrument
- Romanian: Pno. — a keyboard musical instrument
- Russian: пиани́но (pianíno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Russian: фортепиа́но (fortɛpiáno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Russian: роя́ль (rojálʹ) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Scottish Gaelic: piàno — a keyboard musical instrument
- Serbo-Croatian: кла̀вӣр — a keyboard musical instrument
- Serbo-Croatian: klàvīr — a keyboard musical instrument
- Sicilian: pianuforti — a keyboard musical instrument
- Sicilian: chianuforti — a keyboard musical instrument
- Slovak: klavír — a keyboard musical instrument
- Slovene: klavir — a keyboard musical instrument
- Spanish: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Swahili: kinanda — a keyboard musical instrument
- Swahili: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Swedish: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Tagalog: piyano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Tajik: пианино (pianino) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Tamil: பியானோ (piyāṉō) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Tamil: கின்னரப்பெட்டி (kiṉṉarappeṭṭi) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Thai: เปียโน (bpiia-noo) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Tibetan: རྣོ་སྦྲེང (rno sbreng) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Tigrinya: ፒያኖ (piyano) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Turkish: piyano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Turkmen: pianino — a keyboard musical instrument
- Turkmen: roýal — a keyboard musical instrument
- Udmurt: рояль (rojaľ) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Ukrainian: фортепіа́но (fortepiáno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Urdu: پِیانو (piyāno) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Uyghur: پيانىنو (pyanino) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Uzbek: pianino — a keyboard musical instrument
- Vietnamese: dương cầm — a keyboard musical instrument
- Volapük: pianod — a keyboard musical instrument
- Welsh: piano — a keyboard musical instrument
- Welsh: perdoneg — a keyboard musical instrument
- Yiddish: פּיאַנע (pyane) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Yiddish: קלאַוויר (klavir) — a keyboard musical instrument
- Zhuang: ganghginz — a keyboard musical instrument
- Zulu: iPiyano — a keyboard musical instrument
Real reading context