pianon.²

Brit.

/pɪˈanəʊ/, U.S.

/piˈænoʊ/

Inflections: Plural pianos, (occasionally) pianoes.

Forms: 1700s– piano; regional and nonstandard 1800s pianne, 1800s piawno, 1800s pinanny, 1800s– pianer, 1800s– pianner, 1800s– pianny, 1800s– piany, 1900s– peanny, 1900s– pee-anna, 1900s– piana, 1900s– pianna, 1900s– pie-anna.

Origin: Probably either (i) a borrowing from French. Or perhaps (ii) formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymons: French piano ; pianoforte n.², fortepiano n.

Etymology: Probably either < French piano (1761 or earlier in sense 1a, 1822 or earlier in sense 1b), or independently shortened < either pianoforte n.² or fortepiano n.; Italian piano is not attested until later in this sense (1831, shortened < pianoforte pianoforte n.², probably after French piano). Compare Spanish piano (a1803 or earlier), Dutch piano (early 19th cent.). Quot. 1772 at sense 1a may represent simply a graphic abbreviation of pianofortes , plural of pianoforte n.² The regional and nonstandard forms represent various pronunciations, chiefly with final /ə/ and final /ɪ/.

a. A large keyboard musical instrument in which strings are struck by rebounding hammers when the keys are depressed, with two or three pedals to regulate the volume, timbre, and duration of the sounds produced; a pianoforte. Also: an electric keyboard instrument designed to produce sounds similar to those of this (see also electric piano n. at electric adj. and n. Compounds 1b). Cf. earlier fortepiano n.The invention of the piano is usually ascribed to Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua c1700. In its action it is essentially a dulcimer provided with keys and dampers, but in other respects imitates the harpsichord and clavichord, which it overtook in popularity in the early 19th cent. See also piano action n.Also with defining word indicating size, shape, etc., as grand, square, upright, cottage, player, prepared piano, etc.: see the first element. Cf. also thumb piano n. at thumb n. Compounds 5.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > stringed keyboards > [noun] > pianoforte

pf1724

pianoforte1741

fortepiano1769

piano1772

joanna1846

music box1850

box1902

1772 N.-Y. Gaz. & Weekly Mercury 30 Mar. 3/1 (advt.) John Sheiuble, Organ Builder, from Philadelphia, Makes and repairs all Kinds of Organs, Harpsichords, Spinnets, and Piano.

1798 tr. J.-B. Louvet Emily de Varmont II. 186 I returned to the parlour, and sat down at the piano.

1822 Times 2 Jan. 4/4 (advt.) Modern Household Furniture..noble and brilliant Pier Glass..two Pianoes, rich cut Glass, and other Effects.

1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby ii. 6 The notes of pianos and harps float in the evening time round the head of the mournful statue.

1866 H. B. Stowe Little Foxes 115 If a piano is tuned to exact concert pitch, the majority of voices must fall below it.

1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin vi. 100 Yaller 'air, she 'as, an' blue eyes, an' plays th' pianner wonderful, 'er ma sez.

1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ii. 39 I..sang a number of his songs, some with piano, the rest to the harp accompaniment of Sidonie Goosens.

1981 J. Johnston Christmas Tree 130 There was a piano, a beautiful Steinway concert grand.

2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 23 May 67/3 The modern piano, with its enhanced capacity for sustaining and projecting sound, also seems to encourage exaggerated performances.

b. The art of playing the piano; (also) piano-playing or piano music, esp. of a particular style.cocktail, party, stride piano, etc.: see the first element.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > playing keyboard instrument > [noun] > playing piano

pianoforting1822

piano1841

piano-playing1844

pianism1892

pianistics1938

1841 Times 17 June 2/3 A widow lady and daughters..receive 12 young ladies as parlour boarders at 60 guineas per annum, which sum includes English, French, piano, writing, [etc.].

1915 W. Cather Song of Lark ii. viii. 216 She had always told herself that she studied piano to fit herself to be a music teacher.

1946 J. Cary Moonlight viii. 55 I was looking forward to some real old romantic piano, with the genuine macassar flavour.

1992 New Republic 8 June 34/2 Jelly is torn between the demands of his aristocratic family, who make him practice classical piano, and the more colorful enticements of Storyville.

2. U.S. slang (chiefly in African-American usage). = spare-rib n.

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the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > part or joint of animal > [noun] > ribs

ribOE

short rib1592

spare-rib1596

middle rib1747

piano1911

1911 J. W. Horsley I Remember xi. 254 Ingenuity and humour are sometimes the parents of slang terms... I was reminded by..‘piano’ for ribs of beef.

1942 Z. N. Hurston in Amer. Mercury July 96/1 Piano, spare ribs (white rib-bones suggest piano keys).

Compounds

C1.

a. General attributive.

piano accompaniment n.

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1829 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1954) XI. 187 With a Piano Accompaniment arranged to the Air ‘Home! Sweet Home!’

1984 C. Sigal in Listener 26 July 33/1 Piano accompaniment to old nickelodeon silents was considered indispensable by most managements.

piano concerto n.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > music on specific instrument > [noun] > keyboard music > on piano

pianoforte concerto1837

pianoforte sonata1838

finger passage1847

piano concerto1851

piano part1854

piano sonata1859

chop-sticks1893

novelette1893

five-finger exercise1903

piano rag1922

1851 Encycl. Americana VI. 472/2 His [sc. Hummel's] greatest compositions are his two great piano concertos.

1934 A. L. Bacharach Musical Compan. iv. 598 There are far greater depths in the two piano concertos of Brahms.

1991 Classic CD Dec. 31/3 Mozart..writes what could be called a swan-song of piano concertos.

piano cover n.

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1845 G. Meade Let. 16 Oct. in Life & Lett. (1913) I. 32 I have been tempted to get a couple [of Mexican blankets] for you, as they would make beautiful piano or table covers.

1908 M. K. Waddington Chateau & Country Life in France ii. 59 I am sure I shall end my days..bending over a frame making portières or a piano-cover.

1999 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 58 370 Merchants transported phulkaris to London and New York to be used as ‘exotic draperies’, that is, curtains, piano covers, or other household furnishings.

piano duet n.

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1837 Times 15 Feb. 1/1 Quadrilles as piano duets, by Chaulieu.

1943 H. L. Mencken Diary 11 Aug. (1989) 269 We also tackled Schubert's ‘Rosamunde’ ballet as a piano duet.

1991 M. Wyman Evelyn Hart 33 They all competed at the local music festivals, Evelyn and Elly often playing piano duets together.

piano lesson n.

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1849 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis (1850) I. xvi. 143 Devoted to her mamma and her piano-lesson.

a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. iv. 68 He was insurance agent, toilet soap agent, piano tuner, giver of piano lessons.

1992 New Republic 10 Aug. 35/2 Other boys laughed at him for his glasses, his piano lessons, his bookishness.

piano master n.

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1852 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 80/1 For a year past I have a poor devil of a piano-master who walks a league a-day through the mud to give me a lesson.

1997 St. Petersburg Times (Florida) (Nexis) 12 Jan. (Business section) 1 h Early jazz piano masters like Duke Ellington and Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines.

piano music n.

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1823 W. T. Moncrieff Cataract of Ganges iii. ii. 44 (stage direct.) Piano Music—Mokarra sleeps.

1977 J. McClure Sunday Hangman xiv. 163 A pile of piano music—half-eaten by termites.

2004 New Woman May 59/2 All posh cutlery, plinky-plonky piano music and glitzy chandeliers.

piano packing case n.

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1884 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily Gaz. 19 Jan. 7/1 A piano packing-case about ten feet high.

1932 Times 24 Mar. 18/4 Week-end visitors, it was said, were putting up buildings made of piano packing cases.

piano piece n.

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1847 Times 11 June 9/1 Now on sale,..new music, bound in classed volumes: songs,..waltzes, piano pieces, [etc.].

1900 Dict. National Biogr. at White, Alice Mary Meadows She composed many piano pieces, songs and duets.

1994 New Yorker 24 Oct. 105/1 His piano pieces were a link across a century and a half to the clavecinists.

piano practice n.

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1841 Times 23 July 1/4 (advt.) A young lady desires an appointment in a superior school to superintend the piano practice to the more advanced, and to instruct others in music and French.

2000 Newsweek 1 Jan. 65/1 Intense piano practice can fool the brain into using a single chunk of neural real estate to process sensation from several fingers.

piano recital n.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > a performance > [noun] > concert > types of

Philharmonic concert1740

benefit-concert1759

chamber concert1760

recital1762

Dutch concert1774

concert performance1777

philharmonica1796

musical soirée1821

sacred concert1832

soirée musicale1836

promenade concert1839

pianoforte recital1840

ballad concert1855

piano recital1855

Monday pop1862

Pop1862

promenade1864

popular1865

Schubertiad1869

recitative1873

organ recital1877

pop concert1880

smoker1887

smoke concert1888

café concert1891

prom1902

smoke-ho1918

smoking-concert1934

hootenanny1940

opry1940

Liederabend1958

1855 Knoxville (Iowa) Jrnl. 1 Oct. On one occasion he attended a piano recital given by the son of a minister.

1950 L. Salter Going to Concert 99 At everything but piano recitals, there is a second person involved who has it..in his power to turn the whole affair into a success or a failure.

1990 D. McFarland Music Room 19 Father..is giving a piano recital, annihilating a Beethoven sonata.

piano recording n.

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1921 Appleton (Wisconsin) Post-Crescent 12 Jan. 11/8 (advt.) A new range in piano recording has been turned.

1993 Classic CD June 57/4 It is impossible to imagine finer piano recordings.

piano rehearsal n.

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1898 Stevens Point (Wisconsin) Daily Jrnl. 3 May Margaret Hill and Florence Maxfield gave an interesting piano rehearsal for their parents.

1938 M. Ludwig tr. L. Lehmann Midway in My Song xxvi. 225 At the piano rehearsal I trembled so much that I could scarcely sing my program.

1990 Classical Music 20 Jan. 31/1 The piano rehearsals are a kind of..bird's-eye view, I call it, and then with the orchestra you can work on the detail.

piano solo n.

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1838 Times 31 Aug. 1/1 Sole publishers of..Le Bouquet des Dames, and Galops, as piano solos.

1923 J. Reith Diary 19 Mar. (1975) 131 There was no piano solo so I..got him to play Schubert's ‘Marche Militaire’.

1993 Rolling Stone 8 July 29/1 An extended, jazzy piano solo.

piano soloist n.

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1882 Fitchburg (Mass.) Daily Sentinel 26 July Three of the best piano soloists among the pupils had offered their services.

1991 N.Y. Times 24 Nov. i. 69/3 Nichol Hlinka and Michael Byars whizzed through ‘Tarantella’, a virtuosic pas de deux for which Jerry Zimmerman was the piano soloist.

piano teacher n.

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1807 Salmagundi 18 Apr. 157 Every paper-hanger, every piano teacher, and every dancing-master in the city were enlisted in their service.

1914 H. Wells (title) Ears, brain and fingers. A text book for piano teachers and pupils.

1992 Chatelaine June 51/1 A quick temper and sharp tongue that make her seem a bit like your childhood piano teacher from hell.

piano transcription n.

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1874 Atlantic Monthly May 634/1 Difficulties beset the amateur on every side from the variety of clefs, and a want of dexterity in reading music or in improvising piano transcriptions.

1981 Dict. National Biogr. 1961–70 at Cohen, Harriet A Bach Book for Harriet Cohen..consisted of piano transcriptions of chorale preludes and cantata movements.

b. Objective.

piano buying n.

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1899 Cent. Mag. Oct. (end matter) (advt.) Valuable information about piano-buying, including our unique easy payment plans.

1970 Iowa City Press-Citizen 21 Oct. Mr. Exner responds to many questions about piano buying and care.

piano maker n.

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1851 Tioga (Wellsboro, Pa.) Eagle 29 May Our piano makers muster in great force and will have to sustain an arduous rivalry.

1993 Dict. National Biogr.: Missing Persons 566/1 The four sons and three daughters of James Rolfe, piano maker.

piano pounder n.

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1883 W. D. Howells Register ii. 36 Some piano-pounder is there.

1985 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 29 Apr. 16 Rock 'n' roll piano pounder Jerry Lee Lewis.

piano practising n.

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1870 Punchinello 13 Aug. 307/2 Might we find neighborhoods willing to take the resumption of piano-practicing in the forgiving spirit of the Christmas-time.

1993 H. Gardner Creating Minds iii. 52 When his sister's piano practising annoyed him, the piano was removed from the house.

piano strumming n.

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1856 tr. H. Heine Romanzero in Westm. Rev. Jan. 23 I hear nothing but the rolling of vehicles, hammering, quarrelling, and piano-strumming.

1984 R. Chambers in J. Joyce Dubliners (1988) 111 The preparatory piano strumming is background noise to Gabriel's anecdote.

c. Instrumental.

piano-distracted adj.

ΚΠ

1903 Westm. Gaz. 31 Aug. 2/3 Probably more neighbours are piano-distracted than annoyed by marital disagreements.

C2.

piano accordion n. an accordion incorporating a small vertical keyboard, like that of a piano.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > other keyboard instruments > [noun] > concertina or accordion

accordion1830

concertina1834

melophone1841

melophonic guitar1842

flutina1859

piano accordion1860

lantum1876

melodeon1880

squeeze-box1909

squiffer1914

bandoneon1925

box1929

organetto1983

1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 10 Mar. 464/1 A kind of piano-accordion, played by a young girl.

1938 Oxf. Compan. Music 788/1 The application of the..piano keyboard (hence the term ‘Piano Accordion’) was made by Bouton, of Paris, in 1852.

2001 Yahoo! Internet Life Nov. 106/2 By the end of this impromptu concert, he'd wielded a Cajun button squeeze-box, another piano accordion, a Jew's harp, and his ubiquitous harmonica.

piano bar n. originally U.S. a bar in which live piano music, esp. jazz, is played.

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the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > drinking place > [noun] > tap-room or bar > other bars

public bar1654

American bar1856

wine room1865

last chance saloon1869

four-ale1883

private bar1892

saloon bar1902

cocktail bar1908

cocktail lounge1934

porter bar1935

lounge bar1937

wine bar1938

dive bar1940

gay bar1947

open bar1947

piano bar1947

sherry-bar1951

public1957

leather bar1961

private1963

ouzeri1964

karaoke bar1977

1947 Nevada State Jrnl. 24 Apr. 10/4 (advt.) Announcing the re-opening of Swede and Jack's piano bar.

1989 Holiday Which? Sept. 187/2 With only two discos, two piano bars and one jazz club, evening entertainment centres around a meal and a stroll.

2000 P. Moore Full Montezuma (2001) xxv. 417 Rumour had it that Woody Harrelson was spotted jamming with the house band up in the piano bar as well.

piano bench n. a wide piano stool, esp. designed to seat two players side-by-side.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > stringed keyboards > [noun] > pianoforte > stool

piano stool1830

piano bench1893

1893 Cent. Mag. Feb. 503/1 Mr. Van Loon..conveyed himself..over to a piano-bench where the girl was seated.

1992 S. Birdsell Chrome Suite i. vii. 143 Aunt Rita posed on the edge of the piano bench, elegant in a narrow black sheath dress.

piano case n. the resonant wooden box enclosing the mechanism of a piano; (also) a case for transporting a piano.

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1829 Times 13 Mar. 3/3 They saw three chairmen conveying a piano-case, and scarcely able to proceed with the burden.

1850 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1849: Arts & Manuf. 300 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (31st Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 20, Pt. 1) VI What I claim..is a piano case or trunk lock.

1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 117. 210/2 Every Beckwith piano case..is double veneered inside and outside.

1994–5 Prairie Fire: Canad. Mag. New Writing Winter 46 I am larger than average, but not as big as those people they bury in piano cases.

piano-conductor n. a musician who conducts a band or orchestra while playing the piano; frequently attributive, designating a score used by such a conductor.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > conductor or leader > [noun] > conductor > from piano

piano-conductor1908

1908 J. Fredericks (title) Dandy Dan Two Step & Cake Walk piano-conductor [i.e. score for piano-conductor].

1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz ii. 43 The piano-conductor part of a commercial orchestration is very similar.

1999 C. P. Jacobs in D. W. McCaffrey & C. P. Jacobs Guide Silent Years Amer. Cinema i. 8 These were available in a variety of arrangements, usually for solo piano, organ or piano-conductor.., small orchestra, and large orchestra.

† piano-failure n. Obsolete = pianist's cramp n. at pianist n. Compounds 2.

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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders affecting muscles > [noun] > spasm or cramp > type of spasm > occupational > specific

telegraphist's cramp1875

telegrapher's cramp1877

weavers' cramp1881

telegrapher's palsy1882

pianist's cramp1887

charley horse1888

piano-failure1897

watchmaker's cramp1899

1897 G. V. Poore Nervous Affections of Hand v. 111 The frequency of piano-failure is not very great. I..have seen only twenty-one cases in a period extending over many years.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 12 In cases of piano-failure, I always examine carefully the extensors of the wrist and fingers.

piano hinge n. a long, narrow hinge which runs the full length of one or both of the surfaces to which it is joined.

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1905 Washington Post 18 July Printing Frames, with piano hinges.

1993 Outdoor Canada Mar. 56/2 (advt.) This Stowline truck safe has triple deadbolt locking and a Medeco key lock. Full length piano hinge.

piano lamp n. an adjustable standard lamp of a type intended to be used by pianists.

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1886 Star & Sentinel 11 May Drawing Room, Piazza and Piano Lamps.

1939–40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 280/2 (caption) Hooded piano lamp.

1997 P. Gulley Front Porch Tales 139 When I need a flashlight I use our piano lamp and a long extension cord.

† piano monitor n. Obsolete a bar of metal placed a few inches above and in front of the keys of a piano, on which learners may rest the wrists.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > stringed keyboards > [noun] > pianoforte > device for keeping hands in position

hand mould1819

chiroplast1842

piano monitor1842

chiro-gymnast1845

wrist-guide1861

1842 G. W. Francis Dict. Arts Piano-Monitor.

piano part n. the part assigned to the piano in concerted music.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > music on specific instrument > [noun] > keyboard music > on piano

pianoforte concerto1837

pianoforte sonata1838

finger passage1847

piano concerto1851

piano part1854

piano sonata1859

chop-sticks1893

novelette1893

five-finger exercise1903

piano rag1922

1854 Harper's Mag. July 226/1 He rose up, and sitting down to the clavecin,..performed the piano part of this chef-d'oeuvre.

1934 A. L. Bacharach Musical Compan. v. 482 There are..modern chamber works weighted with piano parts that make as heavy demands on virtuosity as any concerto.

1991 Sunday Times 8 Sept. 8/5 The piano part has a brooding, improvisatory quality.

piano quartet n. a quartet written for piano and three other instruments (usually violin, viola, and cello); (also) an ensemble for playing such quartets.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > pieces for specific number of performers > [noun] > quartet

quatuor1724

quartetto1758

quartet1773

pianoforte quartet1847

piano quartet1862

1862 Times 21 Feb. 1/3 Messrs. Ernst Pauer and Harold Thomas..will perform Ascher's Piano Quartet ‘Concordantia’.

1934 A. L. Bacharach Musical Compan. viii. 488 During the same four years he wrote..the first of his piano quartets.

1985 Observer 16 June 19/1 ‘The Marriage of Figaro’..reduced for six solo singers and a piano quartet, given in what looks like a budget touring production.

piano quintet n. a quintet written for piano and four other (usually string) instruments; (also) an ensemble for playing such quintets.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > pieces for specific number of performers > [noun] > quintet

quintet1764

quintetto1764

pianoforte quintet1828

piano quintet1865

1865 tr. L. Spohr Autobiogr. (1969) II. 97 I immediately set to work and finished before leaving London the first subject of the piano-quintet Op. 52.

1925 E. Sackville-West Piano Quintet i. 1 A piano quintet, they were to start in a month's time upon a professional tour on the Continent.

2001 Daily Tel. 18 Oct. 24/2 It is set to Schumann's gorgeous piano quintet, with dancers in short electric blue.

piano rack n. a rack above the keyboard on a piano, on which music can be placed.

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1843 N. P. Willis in New Mirror 11 Nov. 96/2 Truly the public are not likely to die in ignorance of songs which stand on every piano-rack in the country.

1989 A. C. Rich Time's Power (1989) 4 The rented upright in the summer rental One Hundred Best-Loved Songs on the piano rack.

piano rag n. a rag (rag n.⁵ 2a) for performance on the piano.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > music on specific instrument > [noun] > keyboard music > on piano

pianoforte concerto1837

pianoforte sonata1838

finger passage1847

piano concerto1851

piano part1854

piano sonata1859

chop-sticks1893

novelette1893

five-finger exercise1903

piano rag1922

1920 I. Stravinsky (title) Piano-rag-music.]

1922 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press Telegram 14 Apr. 5/2 Piano Rags..Mr. Belleheumer.

1972 Jazz & Blues Oct. 32/1 (advt.) Joshua Rifkin's first Nonesuch album of piano rags.

2003 Salt Lake Tribune (Nexis) 7 Sept. d7 Not all of the performances were as successful as the debut of Walker's intricate, quirky piano rag.

piano reduction n. a transcription for piano of music for an orchestra or other ensemble (cf. reduction n. 14e).

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society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > [noun] > reductions

pianoforte score1846

piano score1862

reduction1867

piano reduction1939

1939 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Daily Northwestern 10 Oct. 10/3 Manuscripts, with piano reduction of the score, must be submitted to the manager.

1966 Listener 29 Dec. 976/2 A piano reduction of the second Prologue of Romeo and Juliet.

1998 Daily Tel. 18 Mar. 15/1 Once recording began and music lovers turned passive, the piano reduction virtually disappeared.

piano roll n. a roll used in a pianola or player-piano; = music roll n. 2.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > [noun] > pianola roll

music roll1878

roll1899

pianola roll1905

piano roll1912

1912 Fort Wayne (Indiana) News 4 Sept. 4/2 The piano roll makers have..featured the gems of the opera and have issued a dozen or more different rolls.

1965 Listener 1 Apr. 501/2 They did make a considerable number of piano-rolls, but with the ascendancy of the gramophone in the twenties, these perforated screeds of paper were relegated to the lumber-room of the past.

2001 Classic FM Aug. 28/1 There are four piano rolls of Mahler, made in 1905.

piano scarf n. = piano shawl n.

ΚΠ

1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 239/1 Piano Scarf, all silk plush, good sorted colors.

1980 M. Robinson Housekeeping viii. 172 She was wrapped in a dusty purple shawl that was fringed like a piano scarf.

piano school n. a method of playing the piano, or of teaching piano-playing; an establishment where piano-playing is taught.

ΚΠ

1871 Harper's Mag. July 294/1 In this [instrumentation] he [sc. Thalberg] was original, and is really the founder of the present piano school.

1888 New Eng. Mag. Sept. 457 There are numerous other music schools conducted by masters in some special line, especially piano-schools.

1911 J. Huneker F. Liszt 425 Joseffy was reported as having been discovered in the wilds above Tarrytown playing two-voiced inventions of Bach, and writing a new piano school.

2000 Ebony Sept. 1 Kenneth and his wife Crystal called local piano schools, trying to find a teacher to nurture Jordan's talent.

piano score n. a score containing music to be played on the piano, esp. a condensed arrangement of orchestral music.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > [noun] > reductions

pianoforte score1846

piano score1862

reduction1867

piano reduction1939

1862 J. D. Willard (title) Arion: a collection of four-part songs for male voices, in separate vocal parts with piano score.

1929 H. Crane Let. 26 Feb. (1965) 339 They've promised to publish The Bridge—on sheets as large as a piano score.

1998 Dancing Times May 711/1 We also have a copy of the piano score arranged by Constant Lambert.

piano shawl n. a shawl (typically with a fringed edge) of a type used to drape over a piano.

ΚΠ

1963 Citizen-Advertiser (Auburn, N.Y.) 20 July 2/4 Thickly fringed skirts. Some of these were shown with fringed piano shawls.

1986 New Yorker 17 Nov. 98/2 She is wearing the drawing-room piano shawl as an evening wrap.

2000 Daily Tel. 30 June 23/3 Finer and far more feminine than a pashmina, piano shawls have replaced the velvet-trimmed little cardigans as the accessory of the moment.

piano sonata n. a sonata for solo piano.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > music on specific instrument > [noun] > keyboard music > on piano

pianoforte concerto1837

pianoforte sonata1838

finger passage1847

piano concerto1851

piano part1854

piano sonata1859

chop-sticks1893

novelette1893

five-finger exercise1903

piano rag1922

1859 A. J. Munby Diary 25 May in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 33 Songs, serious & comic: piano-sonatas, and duets and trios with violin and violoncello.

1924 M. Kennedy Constant Nymph xvi. 214 A piano sonata which Sebastian was to play at a concert.

1995 Daily Express 17 Mar. 48/2 A warts-and-all portrayal of the genius who wrote piano sonatas as often as other people write cheques.

piano trio n. a trio written for a piano and two other instruments (usually violin and cello); (also) an ensemble for playing such trios.

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society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > pieces for specific number of performers > [noun] > trio

terzetto1724

trio1724

pianoforte trio1825

piano trio1866

1866 Times 15 Nov. 1/4 This evening at the Pavillion. Piano trios by Beethoven.

1960 Hawarden (Iowa) Independent 23 Jan. 1/8 She was a talented pianist and played in a piano trio.

1998 Gramophone Jan. 77/3 The stirring Largo, an unmistakable outgrowth of the Largo from Shostakovich's Second Piano Trio.

piano writing n. (style of) composition for the piano.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > composing music > [noun] > composing for piano

pianism1844

piano writing1871

1871 N.Y. Herald 13 Feb. 6/4 One or two of the cadenzas show very little acquaintance with piano writing on the part of the composer.

1946 E. Lockspeiser in A. L. Bacharach Brit. Music xv. 196 There is often clumsiness in the piano-writing, too monotonous an insistence on pattern, or a lack of finish in the way he handles a phrase.

1987 Musical Opinion Feb. 46/2 Mr Martineau was equally at home in successfully capturing the delicate traceries of the composer's piano writing.

Derivatives

piˈano-like adj.

ΚΠ

1867 Titusville (Pa.) Morning Herald 11 Oct. Trow's Type Setting and Distributing Machine, a piano-like instrument, that went to work and distributed a stick full of type with the celerity of an old ‘typo’.

1928 Pop. Sci. Monthly Nov. 128/2 The pianolike instrument called a ‘glass-a-tone’ was made from bits of Venetian blinds, broken wineglasses, children's blocks, scrap timber, and some old tin cans.

1992 E. L. Kottick Harsichord Owner's Guide (rev. ed.) iii. 52 The harpsichord needed its massive framing members and metal frames to give it a piano-like ability to maintain tuning and regulation at all times.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

pianoadv.n.¹adj.

Brit.

/ˈpjɑːnəʊ/,

/pɪˈɑːnəʊ/, U.S.

/piˈɑnoʊ/

Origin: A borrowing from Italian. Etymon: Italian piano.

Etymology: < Italian piano (adjective) quiet (13th cent., originally used of voices, also of singing), (adverb) slowly (a1321), quietly (1353) < classical Latin plānus flat, low (see plain adj.²), in post-classical Latin also (of sound) soft, low (13th cent.). With sense A. 2 compare French piano (1845 in this sense). Compare earlier piano piano adv., pianoforte n.¹, and also forte adj.Use as noun is apparently not paralleled in Italian.

A. adv.

1. Music. As a musical direction: softly, quietly.Abbreviated p in musical notation (see P n. Initialisms).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > volume > [adjective] > soft

softa1525

still1541

piano1683

pianissimo1838

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > volume > [adverb] > softly

softa1550

demurelya1616

piano1762

sotto voce1776

society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > directions > [adverb] > for volume

forte1724

fortissimo1724

pf1724

più piano1724

piano1762

rinforzando1775

crescendo1776

mancando1786

sforzando1786

sforzato1786

forzando1828

1683 H. Purcell Sonnata's of III Parts Pref. The English Practitioner..will find a few terms of Art perhaps unusual to him, the chief of which are..Piano.

1724 Short Explic. Foreign Words Musick Bks. Piano, or the Letter P, signifies Soft or Low.

1755 J. Smeaton Diary 22 June in Journey to Low Countries (1938) 16 Striking the key, causes the clapper to strike the Bell, so that the master can play forte or piano.

1762 G. Colman Musical Lady i. ii. 11 O Piano, my dear Lady Scrape, Piano!

1825 M. Lemon Arnold of Winkelried v. iii. 49 (stage direct.) Chorus repeated very piano.

1856 M. C. Clarke tr. H. Berlioz Treat. Mod. Instrumentation 5 Chords of three or four notes..produce rather a bad effect when played piano.

1928 H. Andrews tr. J. de Marliave Beethoven's Quartets ii. 69 Its [sc. the coda's] entry is marked by the principal subject played piano on the first violin.

1995 M. Steinberg Symphony 29 Three times we have heard it, piano, descending gently from E-flat through C to the keynote, A-flat.

2001 Church Times 24 Aug. 24/1 The choir addresses the saint piano in Polish, then fortissimo in Latin.

2. In extended use: quietly; delicately. Cf. piano piano adv.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adverb] > without harshness or gently

lightlyeOE

neshlyeOE

fairOE

neshc1175

softlyc1225

softa1325

hoolya1340

tenderlyc1385

soft and fair(ly)c1391

weakly1398

delicately?a1425

prettilyc1500

gently1533

gentle1548

breathingly1662

blandly1827

sparingly1863

piano1873

gauzily1903

creamily1948

1873 Catholic World Sept. 796/1 It was a thunder-storm played piano.

1941 W. H. Auden New Year Let. i. 17 Singing or sighing as they go: Exalté, piano, or in doubt.

1985 P. Devlin Easing the Passing (1986) xiv. 124 The Solicitor-General sensed at once the nature of the case and opened it piano.

B. n.¹

Music. A soft or quiet passage; (also) a soft or gentle tone.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > volume > [noun] > soft tone

pp1724

piano1730

pianissimo1781

1730 in E. F. Rimbault Pianoforte (1860) 149 An harpsichord, on which..may be performed..either in the forts or pianos.

1735 J. Miller Man of Taste iv. 62 I had a great fat She-Creature sat next me, that had got the Ptysick, and wheesed so hideously all the time, that I could not hear a single Piano!

1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy I. xxiii. 169 The forte or piano of a certain wind instrument they use.

1773 R. Fergusson Poems 101 Banish vile Italian tricks From out your quorum, Nor fortes wi' pianos mix.

1859 T. P. Thompson Audi Alteram Partem II. xcvii. 83 A musical performer, who filled his composition with pianos.

1886 Athenæum 6 Feb. 209/1 Much was left to desire on the score of delicacy, a pianissimo being never obtained, and even a piano but seldom.

1961 A. Hopkins Talking about Symphonies iv. 55 The sheer volume of sound created here is reduced to a sudden piano.

1992 Times 25 Feb. 13/1 Ah, Stella, she had a very good piano.

C. adj.

1. Of music, singing, etc.: soft. Also figurative.

ΚΠ

1756 Mem. Young Lady of Quality III. 277 She admired this Opera to distraction, and accompanied every moving Air in a soft Piano Tone of Voice.

1815 W. Drennan Fugitive Pieces in Verse & Prose 21 Soft piano pipes, and brazen throat Striving for mastery.

1880 G. Grove Dict. Music II. 113/2 Leggiero passages are usually, though not invariably, piano, and they may be either legato or staccato.

1884 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 782/2 The cry for peace will probably become very piano.

1955 Times 12 July 5/4 In piano singing her tone remains as pure as the line remains clearly drawn.

1991 Jrnl. Royal Mus. Assoc. 116 203 The use of forte markings to emphasize just two notes in a passage otherwise piano.

2. In extended use: understated, restrained. Sometimes also: subdued, reserved.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > calmness > meekness or mildness > [adjective]

stillc825

tamec888

mildeOE

lithea1000

daftc1000

meekc1325

lambishc1374

meeklyc1375

benign1377

temperatec1380

quieta1382

gall-lessa1398

mansuetea1425

meeta1425

unwrathful1542

rageless1578

lamb-like?1592

mildya1603

milky1602

pigeon-livered1604

placid1614

spleenless?1615

passive1616

unprovokable1646

milken1648

uncaptious1661

stomachless1727

unindignant1789

pianoa1817

ireless1829

unquarrelsome1830

quiet-goinga1835

uncholeric1834

unoffendable1839

baby-milda1845

quiet-tempered1846

turtlish1855

pathic1857

a1817 J. Austen Persuasion (1818) IV. vi. 120 James Benwick is rather too piano for me.

1900 E. Glyn Visits of Elizabeth 188 The Marquis..looked thoroughly worn out and as piano as a beaten dog.

1922 A. Huxley Let. 9 Sept. (1969) 209 Aunt Nettie is with us: but happily she is in a very calm and piano mood so that she is quite an agreeable companion.

1953 E. M. Forster Hill of Devi 138 Very piano and tired, poor dear.

1999 Observer (Nexis) 6 June (Review section) 4 I overheard someone saying, ‘Yes, Richard has been rather piano recently.’ Piano!? You'd be toto bloody sordino if you were in my shoes, darling.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	piano
释义	pianon.² Brit. /pɪˈanəʊ/, U.S. /piˈænoʊ/ Inflections: Plural pianos, (occasionally) pianoes. Forms: 1700s– piano; regional and nonstandard 1800s pianne, 1800s piawno, 1800s pinanny, 1800s– pianer, 1800s– pianner, 1800s– pianny, 1800s– piany, 1900s– peanny, 1900s– pee-anna, 1900s– piana, 1900s– pianna, 1900s– pie-anna. Origin: Probably either (i) a borrowing from French. Or perhaps (ii) formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymons: French piano ; pianoforte n.², fortepiano n. Etymology: Probably either < French piano (1761 or earlier in sense 1a, 1822 or earlier in sense 1b), or independently shortened < either pianoforte n.² or fortepiano n.; Italian piano is not attested until later in this sense (1831, shortened < pianoforte pianoforte n.², probably after French piano). Compare Spanish piano (a1803 or earlier), Dutch piano (early 19th cent.). Quot. 1772 at sense 1a may represent simply a graphic abbreviation of pianofortes , plural of pianoforte n.² The regional and nonstandard forms represent various pronunciations, chiefly with final /ə/ and final /ɪ/. 1. a. A large keyboard musical instrument in which strings are struck by rebounding hammers when the keys are depressed, with two or three pedals to regulate the volume, timbre, and duration of the sounds produced; a pianoforte. Also: an electric keyboard instrument designed to produce sounds similar to those of this (see also electric piano n. at electric adj. and n. Compounds 1b). Cf. earlier fortepiano n.The invention of the piano is usually ascribed to Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua c1700. In its action it is essentially a dulcimer provided with keys and dampers, but in other respects imitates the harpsichord and clavichord, which it overtook in popularity in the early 19th cent. See also piano action n.Also with defining word indicating size, shape, etc., as grand, square, upright, cottage, player, prepared piano, etc.: see the first element. Cf. also thumb piano n. at thumb n. Compounds 5. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > stringed keyboards > [noun] > pianoforte pf1724 pianoforte1741 fortepiano1769 piano1772 joanna1846 music box1850 box1902 1772 N.-Y. Gaz. & Weekly Mercury 30 Mar. 3/1 (advt.) John Sheiuble, Organ Builder, from Philadelphia, Makes and repairs all Kinds of Organs, Harpsichords, Spinnets, and Piano. 1798 tr. J.-B. Louvet Emily de Varmont II. 186 I returned to the parlour, and sat down at the piano. 1822 Times 2 Jan. 4/4 (advt.) Modern Household Furniture..noble and brilliant Pier Glass..two Pianoes, rich cut Glass, and other Effects. 1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby ii. 6 The notes of pianos and harps float in the evening time round the head of the mournful statue. 1866 H. B. Stowe Little Foxes 115 If a piano is tuned to exact concert pitch, the majority of voices must fall below it. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin vi. 100 Yaller 'air, she 'as, an' blue eyes, an' plays th' pianner wonderful, 'er ma sez. 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ii. 39 I..sang a number of his songs, some with piano, the rest to the harp accompaniment of Sidonie Goosens. 1981 J. Johnston Christmas Tree 130 There was a piano, a beautiful Steinway concert grand. 2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 23 May 67/3 The modern piano, with its enhanced capacity for sustaining and projecting sound, also seems to encourage exaggerated performances. b. The art of playing the piano; (also) piano-playing or piano music, esp. of a particular style.cocktail, party, stride piano, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > playing keyboard instrument > [noun] > playing piano pianoforting1822 piano1841 piano-playing1844 pianism1892 pianistics1938 1841 Times 17 June 2/3 A widow lady and daughters..receive 12 young ladies as parlour boarders at 60 guineas per annum, which sum includes English, French, piano, writing, [etc.]. 1915 W. Cather Song of Lark ii. viii. 216 She had always told herself that she studied piano to fit herself to be a music teacher. 1946 J. Cary Moonlight viii. 55 I was looking forward to some real old romantic piano, with the genuine macassar flavour. 1992 New Republic 8 June 34/2 Jelly is torn between the demands of his aristocratic family, who make him practice classical piano, and the more colorful enticements of Storyville. 2. U.S. slang (chiefly in African-American usage). = spare-rib n. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > part or joint of animal > [noun] > ribs ribOE short rib1592 spare-rib1596 middle rib1747 piano1911 1911 J. W. Horsley I Remember xi. 254 Ingenuity and humour are sometimes the parents of slang terms... I was reminded by..‘piano’ for ribs of beef. 1942 Z. N. Hurston in Amer. Mercury July 96/1 Piano, spare ribs (white rib-bones suggest piano keys). Compounds C1. a. General attributive. piano accompaniment n. ΚΠ 1829 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1954) XI. 187 With a Piano Accompaniment arranged to the Air ‘Home! Sweet Home!’ 1984 C. Sigal in Listener 26 July 33/1 Piano accompaniment to old nickelodeon silents was considered indispensable by most managements. piano concerto n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > music on specific instrument > [noun] > keyboard music > on piano pianoforte concerto1837 pianoforte sonata1838 finger passage1847 piano concerto1851 piano part1854 piano sonata1859 chop-sticks1893 novelette1893 five-finger exercise1903 piano rag1922 1851 Encycl. Americana VI. 472/2 His [sc. Hummel's] greatest compositions are his two great piano concertos. 1934 A. L. Bacharach Musical Compan. iv. 598 There are far greater depths in the two piano concertos of Brahms. 1991 Classic CD Dec. 31/3 Mozart..writes what could be called a swan-song of piano concertos. piano cover n. ΚΠ 1845 G. Meade Let. 16 Oct. in Life & Lett. (1913) I. 32 I have been tempted to get a couple [of Mexican blankets] for you, as they would make beautiful piano or table covers. 1908 M. K. Waddington Chateau & Country Life in France ii. 59 I am sure I shall end my days..bending over a frame making portières or a piano-cover. 1999 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 58 370 Merchants transported phulkaris to London and New York to be used as ‘exotic draperies’, that is, curtains, piano covers, or other household furnishings. piano duet n. ΚΠ 1837 Times 15 Feb. 1/1 Quadrilles as piano duets, by Chaulieu. 1943 H. L. Mencken Diary 11 Aug. (1989) 269 We also tackled Schubert's ‘Rosamunde’ ballet as a piano duet. 1991 M. Wyman Evelyn Hart 33 They all competed at the local music festivals, Evelyn and Elly often playing piano duets together. piano lesson n. ΚΠ 1849 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis (1850) I. xvi. 143 Devoted to her mamma and her piano-lesson. a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. iv. 68 He was insurance agent, toilet soap agent, piano tuner, giver of piano lessons. 1992 New Republic 10 Aug. 35/2 Other boys laughed at him for his glasses, his piano lessons, his bookishness. piano master n. ΚΠ 1852 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 80/1 For a year past I have a poor devil of a piano-master who walks a league a-day through the mud to give me a lesson. 1997 St. Petersburg Times (Florida) (Nexis) 12 Jan. (Business section) 1 h Early jazz piano masters like Duke Ellington and Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines. piano music n. ΚΠ 1823 W. T. Moncrieff Cataract of Ganges iii. ii. 44 (stage direct.) Piano Music—Mokarra sleeps. 1977 J. McClure Sunday Hangman xiv. 163 A pile of piano music—half-eaten by termites. 2004 New Woman May 59/2 All posh cutlery, plinky-plonky piano music and glitzy chandeliers. piano packing case n. ΚΠ 1884 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily Gaz. 19 Jan. 7/1 A piano packing-case about ten feet high. 1932 Times 24 Mar. 18/4 Week-end visitors, it was said, were putting up buildings made of piano packing cases. piano piece n. ΚΠ 1847 Times 11 June 9/1 Now on sale,..new music, bound in classed volumes: songs,..waltzes, piano pieces, [etc.]. 1900 Dict. National Biogr. at White, Alice Mary Meadows She composed many piano pieces, songs and duets. 1994 New Yorker 24 Oct. 105/1 His piano pieces were a link across a century and a half to the clavecinists. piano practice n. ΚΠ 1841 Times 23 July 1/4 (advt.) A young lady desires an appointment in a superior school to superintend the piano practice to the more advanced, and to instruct others in music and French. 2000 Newsweek 1 Jan. 65/1 Intense piano practice can fool the brain into using a single chunk of neural real estate to process sensation from several fingers. piano recital n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > a performance > [noun] > concert > types of Philharmonic concert1740 benefit-concert1759 chamber concert1760 recital1762 Dutch concert1774 concert performance1777 philharmonica1796 musical soirée1821 sacred concert1832 soirée musicale1836 promenade concert1839 pianoforte recital1840 ballad concert1855 piano recital1855 Monday pop1862 Pop1862 promenade1864 popular1865 Schubertiad1869 recitative1873 organ recital1877 pop concert1880 smoker1887 smoke concert1888 café concert1891 prom1902 smoke-ho1918 smoking-concert1934 hootenanny1940 opry1940 Liederabend1958 1855 Knoxville (Iowa) Jrnl. 1 Oct. On one occasion he attended a piano recital given by the son of a minister. 1950 L. Salter Going to Concert 99 At everything but piano recitals, there is a second person involved who has it..in his power to turn the whole affair into a success or a failure. 1990 D. McFarland Music Room 19 Father..is giving a piano recital, annihilating a Beethoven sonata. piano recording n. ΚΠ 1921 Appleton (Wisconsin) Post-Crescent 12 Jan. 11/8 (advt.) A new range in piano recording has been turned. 1993 Classic CD June 57/4 It is impossible to imagine finer piano recordings. piano rehearsal n. ΚΠ 1898 Stevens Point (Wisconsin) Daily Jrnl. 3 May Margaret Hill and Florence Maxfield gave an interesting piano rehearsal for their parents. 1938 M. Ludwig tr. L. Lehmann Midway in My Song xxvi. 225 At the piano rehearsal I trembled so much that I could scarcely sing my program. 1990 Classical Music 20 Jan. 31/1 The piano rehearsals are a kind of..bird's-eye view, I call it, and then with the orchestra you can work on the detail. piano solo n. ΚΠ 1838 Times 31 Aug. 1/1 Sole publishers of..Le Bouquet des Dames, and Galops, as piano solos. 1923 J. Reith Diary 19 Mar. (1975) 131 There was no piano solo so I..got him to play Schubert's ‘Marche Militaire’. 1993 Rolling Stone 8 July 29/1 An extended, jazzy piano solo. piano soloist n. ΚΠ 1882 Fitchburg (Mass.) Daily Sentinel 26 July Three of the best piano soloists among the pupils had offered their services. 1991 N.Y. Times 24 Nov. i. 69/3 Nichol Hlinka and Michael Byars whizzed through ‘Tarantella’, a virtuosic pas de deux for which Jerry Zimmerman was the piano soloist. piano teacher n. ΚΠ 1807 Salmagundi 18 Apr. 157 Every paper-hanger, every piano teacher, and every dancing-master in the city were enlisted in their service. 1914 H. Wells (title) Ears, brain and fingers. A text book for piano teachers and pupils. 1992 Chatelaine June 51/1 A quick temper and sharp tongue that make her seem a bit like your childhood piano teacher from hell. piano transcription n. ΚΠ 1874 Atlantic Monthly May 634/1 Difficulties beset the amateur on every side from the variety of clefs, and a want of dexterity in reading music or in improvising piano transcriptions. 1981 Dict. National Biogr. 1961–70 at Cohen, Harriet A Bach Book for Harriet Cohen..consisted of piano transcriptions of chorale preludes and cantata movements. b. Objective. piano buying n. ΚΠ 1899 Cent. Mag. Oct. (end matter) (advt.) Valuable information about piano-buying, including our unique easy payment plans. 1970 Iowa City Press-Citizen 21 Oct. Mr. Exner responds to many questions about piano buying and care. piano maker n. ΚΠ 1851 Tioga (Wellsboro, Pa.) Eagle 29 May Our piano makers muster in great force and will have to sustain an arduous rivalry. 1993 Dict. National Biogr.: Missing Persons 566/1 The four sons and three daughters of James Rolfe, piano maker. piano pounder n. ΚΠ 1883 W. D. Howells Register ii. 36 Some piano-pounder is there. 1985 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 29 Apr. 16 Rock 'n' roll piano pounder Jerry Lee Lewis. piano practising n. ΚΠ 1870 Punchinello 13 Aug. 307/2 Might we find neighborhoods willing to take the resumption of piano-practicing in the forgiving spirit of the Christmas-time. 1993 H. Gardner Creating Minds iii. 52 When his sister's piano practising annoyed him, the piano was removed from the house. piano strumming n. ΚΠ 1856 tr. H. Heine Romanzero in Westm. Rev. Jan. 23 I hear nothing but the rolling of vehicles, hammering, quarrelling, and piano-strumming. 1984 R. Chambers in J. Joyce Dubliners (1988) 111 The preparatory piano strumming is background noise to Gabriel's anecdote. c. Instrumental. piano-distracted adj. ΚΠ 1903 Westm. Gaz. 31 Aug. 2/3 Probably more neighbours are piano-distracted than annoyed by marital disagreements. C2. piano accordion n. an accordion incorporating a small vertical keyboard, like that of a piano. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > other keyboard instruments > [noun] > concertina or accordion accordion1830 concertina1834 melophone1841 melophonic guitar1842 flutina1859 piano accordion1860 lantum1876 melodeon1880 squeeze-box1909 squiffer1914 bandoneon1925 box1929 organetto1983 1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 10 Mar. 464/1 A kind of piano-accordion, played by a young girl. 1938 Oxf. Compan. Music 788/1 The application of the..piano keyboard (hence the term ‘Piano Accordion’) was made by Bouton, of Paris, in 1852. 2001 Yahoo! Internet Life Nov. 106/2 By the end of this impromptu concert, he'd wielded a Cajun button squeeze-box, another piano accordion, a Jew's harp, and his ubiquitous harmonica. piano bar n. originally U.S. a bar in which live piano music, esp. jazz, is played. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > drinking place > [noun] > tap-room or bar > other bars public bar1654 American bar1856 wine room1865 last chance saloon1869 four-ale1883 private bar1892 saloon bar1902 cocktail bar1908 cocktail lounge1934 porter bar1935 lounge bar1937 wine bar1938 dive bar1940 gay bar1947 open bar1947 piano bar1947 sherry-bar1951 public1957 leather bar1961 private1963 ouzeri1964 karaoke bar1977 1947 Nevada State Jrnl. 24 Apr. 10/4 (advt.) Announcing the re-opening of Swede and Jack's piano bar. 1989 Holiday Which? Sept. 187/2 With only two discos, two piano bars and one jazz club, evening entertainment centres around a meal and a stroll. 2000 P. Moore Full Montezuma (2001) xxv. 417 Rumour had it that Woody Harrelson was spotted jamming with the house band up in the piano bar as well. piano bench n. a wide piano stool, esp. designed to seat two players side-by-side. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > stringed keyboards > [noun] > pianoforte > stool piano stool1830 piano bench1893 1893 Cent. Mag. Feb. 503/1 Mr. Van Loon..conveyed himself..over to a piano-bench where the girl was seated. 1992 S. Birdsell Chrome Suite i. vii. 143 Aunt Rita posed on the edge of the piano bench, elegant in a narrow black sheath dress. piano case n. the resonant wooden box enclosing the mechanism of a piano; (also) a case for transporting a piano. ΚΠ 1829 Times 13 Mar. 3/3 They saw three chairmen conveying a piano-case, and scarcely able to proceed with the burden. 1850 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1849: Arts & Manuf. 300 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (31st Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 20, Pt. 1) VI What I claim..is a piano case or trunk lock. 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 117. 210/2 Every Beckwith piano case..is double veneered inside and outside. 1994–5 Prairie Fire: Canad. Mag. New Writing Winter 46 I am larger than average, but not as big as those people they bury in piano cases. piano-conductor n. a musician who conducts a band or orchestra while playing the piano; frequently attributive, designating a score used by such a conductor. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > conductor or leader > [noun] > conductor > from piano piano-conductor1908 1908 J. Fredericks (title) Dandy Dan Two Step & Cake Walk piano-conductor [i.e. score for piano-conductor]. 1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz ii. 43 The piano-conductor part of a commercial orchestration is very similar. 1999 C. P. Jacobs in D. W. McCaffrey & C. P. Jacobs Guide Silent Years Amer. Cinema i. 8 These were available in a variety of arrangements, usually for solo piano, organ or piano-conductor.., small orchestra, and large orchestra. † piano-failure n. Obsolete = pianist's cramp n. at pianist n. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders affecting muscles > [noun] > spasm or cramp > type of spasm > occupational > specific telegraphist's cramp1875 telegrapher's cramp1877 weavers' cramp1881 telegrapher's palsy1882 pianist's cramp1887 charley horse1888 piano-failure1897 watchmaker's cramp1899 1897 G. V. Poore Nervous Affections of Hand v. 111 The frequency of piano-failure is not very great. I..have seen only twenty-one cases in a period extending over many years. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 12 In cases of piano-failure, I always examine carefully the extensors of the wrist and fingers. piano hinge n. a long, narrow hinge which runs the full length of one or both of the surfaces to which it is joined. ΚΠ 1905 Washington Post 18 July Printing Frames, with piano hinges. 1993 Outdoor Canada Mar. 56/2 (advt.) This Stowline truck safe has triple deadbolt locking and a Medeco key lock. Full length piano hinge. piano lamp n. an adjustable standard lamp of a type intended to be used by pianists. ΚΠ 1886 Star & Sentinel 11 May Drawing Room, Piazza and Piano Lamps. 1939–40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 280/2 (caption) Hooded piano lamp. 1997 P. Gulley Front Porch Tales 139 When I need a flashlight I use our piano lamp and a long extension cord. † piano monitor n. Obsolete a bar of metal placed a few inches above and in front of the keys of a piano, on which learners may rest the wrists. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > stringed keyboards > [noun] > pianoforte > device for keeping hands in position hand mould1819 chiroplast1842 piano monitor1842 chiro-gymnast1845 wrist-guide1861 1842 G. W. Francis Dict. Arts Piano-Monitor. piano part n. the part assigned to the piano in concerted music. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > music on specific instrument > [noun] > keyboard music > on piano pianoforte concerto1837 pianoforte sonata1838 finger passage1847 piano concerto1851 piano part1854 piano sonata1859 chop-sticks1893 novelette1893 five-finger exercise1903 piano rag1922 1854 Harper's Mag. July 226/1 He rose up, and sitting down to the clavecin,..performed the piano part of this chef-d'oeuvre. 1934 A. L. Bacharach Musical Compan. v. 482 There are..modern chamber works weighted with piano parts that make as heavy demands on virtuosity as any concerto. 1991 Sunday Times 8 Sept. 8/5 The piano part has a brooding, improvisatory quality. piano quartet n. a quartet written for piano and three other instruments (usually violin, viola, and cello); (also) an ensemble for playing such quartets. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > pieces for specific number of performers > [noun] > quartet quatuor1724 quartetto1758 quartet1773 pianoforte quartet1847 piano quartet1862 1862 Times 21 Feb. 1/3 Messrs. Ernst Pauer and Harold Thomas..will perform Ascher's Piano Quartet ‘Concordantia’. 1934 A. L. Bacharach Musical Compan. viii. 488 During the same four years he wrote..the first of his piano quartets. 1985 Observer 16 June 19/1 ‘The Marriage of Figaro’..reduced for six solo singers and a piano quartet, given in what looks like a budget touring production. piano quintet n. a quintet written for piano and four other (usually string) instruments; (also) an ensemble for playing such quintets. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > pieces for specific number of performers > [noun] > quintet quintet1764 quintetto1764 pianoforte quintet1828 piano quintet1865 1865 tr. L. Spohr Autobiogr. (1969) II. 97 I immediately set to work and finished before leaving London the first subject of the piano-quintet Op. 52. 1925 E. Sackville-West Piano Quintet i. 1 A piano quintet, they were to start in a month's time upon a professional tour on the Continent. 2001 Daily Tel. 18 Oct. 24/2 It is set to Schumann's gorgeous piano quintet, with dancers in short electric blue. piano rack n. a rack above the keyboard on a piano, on which music can be placed. ΚΠ 1843 N. P. Willis in New Mirror 11 Nov. 96/2 Truly the public are not likely to die in ignorance of songs which stand on every piano-rack in the country. 1989 A. C. Rich Time's Power (1989) 4 The rented upright in the summer rental One Hundred Best-Loved Songs on the piano rack. piano rag n. a rag (rag n.⁵ 2a) for performance on the piano. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > music on specific instrument > [noun] > keyboard music > on piano pianoforte concerto1837 pianoforte sonata1838 finger passage1847 piano concerto1851 piano part1854 piano sonata1859 chop-sticks1893 novelette1893 five-finger exercise1903 piano rag1922 1920 I. Stravinsky (title) Piano-rag-music.] 1922 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press Telegram 14 Apr. 5/2 Piano Rags..Mr. Belleheumer. 1972 Jazz & Blues Oct. 32/1 (advt.) Joshua Rifkin's first Nonesuch album of piano rags. 2003 Salt Lake Tribune (Nexis) 7 Sept. d7 Not all of the performances were as successful as the debut of Walker's intricate, quirky piano rag. piano reduction n. a transcription for piano of music for an orchestra or other ensemble (cf. reduction n. 14e). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > [noun] > reductions pianoforte score1846 piano score1862 reduction1867 piano reduction1939 1939 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Daily Northwestern 10 Oct. 10/3 Manuscripts, with piano reduction of the score, must be submitted to the manager. 1966 Listener 29 Dec. 976/2 A piano reduction of the second Prologue of Romeo and Juliet. 1998 Daily Tel. 18 Mar. 15/1 Once recording began and music lovers turned passive, the piano reduction virtually disappeared. piano roll n. a roll used in a pianola or player-piano; = music roll n. 2. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > [noun] > pianola roll music roll1878 roll1899 pianola roll1905 piano roll1912 1912 Fort Wayne (Indiana) News 4 Sept. 4/2 The piano roll makers have..featured the gems of the opera and have issued a dozen or more different rolls. 1965 Listener 1 Apr. 501/2 They did make a considerable number of piano-rolls, but with the ascendancy of the gramophone in the twenties, these perforated screeds of paper were relegated to the lumber-room of the past. 2001 Classic FM Aug. 28/1 There are four piano rolls of Mahler, made in 1905. piano scarf n. = piano shawl n. ΚΠ 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 239/1 Piano Scarf, all silk plush, good sorted colors. 1980 M. Robinson Housekeeping viii. 172 She was wrapped in a dusty purple shawl that was fringed like a piano scarf. piano school n. a method of playing the piano, or of teaching piano-playing; an establishment where piano-playing is taught. ΚΠ 1871 Harper's Mag. July 294/1 In this [instrumentation] he [sc. Thalberg] was original, and is really the founder of the present piano school. 1888 New Eng. Mag. Sept. 457 There are numerous other music schools conducted by masters in some special line, especially piano-schools. 1911 J. Huneker F. Liszt 425 Joseffy was reported as having been discovered in the wilds above Tarrytown playing two-voiced inventions of Bach, and writing a new piano school. 2000 Ebony Sept. 1 Kenneth and his wife Crystal called local piano schools, trying to find a teacher to nurture Jordan's talent. piano score n. a score containing music to be played on the piano, esp. a condensed arrangement of orchestral music. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > [noun] > reductions pianoforte score1846 piano score1862 reduction1867 piano reduction1939 1862 J. D. Willard (title) Arion: a collection of four-part songs for male voices, in separate vocal parts with piano score. 1929 H. Crane Let. 26 Feb. (1965) 339 They've promised to publish The Bridge—on sheets as large as a piano score. 1998 Dancing Times May 711/1 We also have a copy of the piano score arranged by Constant Lambert. piano shawl n. a shawl (typically with a fringed edge) of a type used to drape over a piano. ΚΠ 1963 Citizen-Advertiser (Auburn, N.Y.) 20 July 2/4 Thickly fringed skirts. Some of these were shown with fringed piano shawls. 1986 New Yorker 17 Nov. 98/2 She is wearing the drawing-room piano shawl as an evening wrap. 2000 Daily Tel. 30 June 23/3 Finer and far more feminine than a pashmina, piano shawls have replaced the velvet-trimmed little cardigans as the accessory of the moment. piano sonata n. a sonata for solo piano. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > music on specific instrument > [noun] > keyboard music > on piano pianoforte concerto1837 pianoforte sonata1838 finger passage1847 piano concerto1851 piano part1854 piano sonata1859 chop-sticks1893 novelette1893 five-finger exercise1903 piano rag1922 1859 A. J. Munby Diary 25 May in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 33 Songs, serious & comic: piano-sonatas, and duets and trios with violin and violoncello. 1924 M. Kennedy Constant Nymph xvi. 214 A piano sonata which Sebastian was to play at a concert. 1995 Daily Express 17 Mar. 48/2 A warts-and-all portrayal of the genius who wrote piano sonatas as often as other people write cheques. piano trio n. a trio written for a piano and two other instruments (usually violin and cello); (also) an ensemble for playing such trios. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > pieces for specific number of performers > [noun] > trio terzetto1724 trio1724 pianoforte trio1825 piano trio1866 1866 Times 15 Nov. 1/4 This evening at the Pavillion. Piano trios by Beethoven. 1960 Hawarden (Iowa) Independent 23 Jan. 1/8 She was a talented pianist and played in a piano trio. 1998 Gramophone Jan. 77/3 The stirring Largo, an unmistakable outgrowth of the Largo from Shostakovich's Second Piano Trio. piano writing n. (style of) composition for the piano. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > composing music > [noun] > composing for piano pianism1844 piano writing1871 1871 N.Y. Herald 13 Feb. 6/4 One or two of the cadenzas show very little acquaintance with piano writing on the part of the composer. 1946 E. Lockspeiser in A. L. Bacharach Brit. Music xv. 196 There is often clumsiness in the piano-writing, too monotonous an insistence on pattern, or a lack of finish in the way he handles a phrase. 1987 Musical Opinion Feb. 46/2 Mr Martineau was equally at home in successfully capturing the delicate traceries of the composer's piano writing. Derivatives piˈano-like adj. ΚΠ 1867 Titusville (Pa.) Morning Herald 11 Oct. Trow's Type Setting and Distributing Machine, a piano-like instrument, that went to work and distributed a stick full of type with the celerity of an old ‘typo’. 1928 Pop. Sci. Monthly Nov. 128/2 The pianolike instrument called a ‘glass-a-tone’ was made from bits of Venetian blinds, broken wineglasses, children's blocks, scrap timber, and some old tin cans. 1992 E. L. Kottick Harsichord Owner's Guide (rev. ed.) iii. 52 The harpsichord needed its massive framing members and metal frames to give it a piano-like ability to maintain tuning and regulation at all times. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022). pianon.³ Brit. /pɪˈanəʊ/, U.S. /piˈænoʊ/ Origin: A borrowing from Italian. Etymon: Italian piano. Etymology: < Italian piano floor, storey (1561 in this sense) < classical Latin plānum (see plane n.³). Compare earlier piano nobile n. Now rare. With reference to buildings in Italy: a floor, a storey. Cf. piano nobile n. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > [noun] > floor or storey stagea1300 storeyc1384 loft1526 floor1585 sollar1585 contignation1592 roof1600 flat1801 piano1835 row1873 level1968 1835 Times 7 Apr. 5/4 They had assembled on the second piano of the house [in Florence], to celebrate a religious ceremony. 1846 C. Dickens Pictures from Italy 127 The interesting window up there, on the first Piano. 1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun I. vii. 89 At the Palazzo Cenci, third piano. 1900 Catholic World Feb. 656 On the staircase leading up to the second ‘piano’ the general noticed a small picture of the Madonna. 2004 www.initaly.com 7 Oct. (O.E.D. Archive) The hotel PABA..is located on the second ‘piano’ of a large building 5 minutes from the Colosseum. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022). pianov. Brit. /pɪˈanəʊ/, U.S. /piˈænoʊ/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: piano n.² Etymology: < piano n.² colloquial. intransitive. To play the piano. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > playing keyboard instrument > play keyboard instrument [verb (intransitive)] > play piano piano1854 to tickle the ivories1930 1854 F. E. Smedley Harry Coverdale's Courtship xlii, in Sharpe's London Mag. July 322/1 She pianos, and I do a little in a mild way on the flute. 1951 Times Recorder (Zanesville, Ohio) 9 Nov. Despite his injured and strapped-up back, Jimmy Durante pianoed and sang..for his old friend. 1997 Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram (Nexis) 10 Feb. (Life & Arts section) 1 W.T. Greer will be singing and pianoing, and the Cavalcade of Stars, a group of celebrity impersonators, will be there, too. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022). pianoadv.n.¹adj. Brit. /ˈpjɑːnəʊ/, /pɪˈɑːnəʊ/, U.S. /piˈɑnoʊ/ Origin: A borrowing from Italian. Etymon: Italian piano. Etymology: < Italian piano (adjective) quiet (13th cent., originally used of voices, also of singing), (adverb) slowly (a1321), quietly (1353) < classical Latin plānus flat, low (see plain adj.²), in post-classical Latin also (of sound) soft, low (13th cent.). With sense A. 2 compare French piano (1845 in this sense). Compare earlier piano piano adv., pianoforte n.¹, and also forte adj.Use as noun is apparently not paralleled in Italian. A. adv. 1. Music. As a musical direction: softly, quietly.Abbreviated p in musical notation (see P n. Initialisms). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > volume > [adjective] > soft softa1525 still1541 piano1683 pianissimo1838 society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > volume > [adverb] > softly softa1550 demurelya1616 piano1762 sotto voce1776 society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > directions > [adverb] > for volume forte1724 fortissimo1724 pf1724 più piano1724 piano1762 rinforzando1775 crescendo1776 mancando1786 sforzando1786 sforzato1786 forzando1828 1683 H. Purcell Sonnata's of III Parts Pref. The English Practitioner..will find a few terms of Art perhaps unusual to him, the chief of which are..Piano. 1724 Short Explic. Foreign Words Musick Bks. Piano, or the Letter P, signifies Soft or Low. 1755 J. Smeaton Diary 22 June in Journey to Low Countries (1938) 16 Striking the key, causes the clapper to strike the Bell, so that the master can play forte or piano. 1762 G. Colman Musical Lady i. ii. 11 O Piano, my dear Lady Scrape, Piano! 1825 M. Lemon Arnold of Winkelried v. iii. 49 (stage direct.) Chorus repeated very piano. 1856 M. C. Clarke tr. H. Berlioz Treat. Mod. Instrumentation 5 Chords of three or four notes..produce rather a bad effect when played piano. 1928 H. Andrews tr. J. de Marliave Beethoven's Quartets ii. 69 Its [sc. the coda's] entry is marked by the principal subject played piano on the first violin. 1995 M. Steinberg Symphony 29 Three times we have heard it, piano, descending gently from E-flat through C to the keynote, A-flat. 2001 Church Times 24 Aug. 24/1 The choir addresses the saint piano in Polish, then fortissimo in Latin. 2. In extended use: quietly; delicately. Cf. piano piano adv. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adverb] > without harshness or gently lightlyeOE neshlyeOE fairOE neshc1175 softlyc1225 softa1325 hoolya1340 tenderlyc1385 soft and fair(ly)c1391 weakly1398 delicately?a1425 prettilyc1500 gently1533 gentle1548 breathingly1662 blandly1827 sparingly1863 piano1873 gauzily1903 creamily1948 1873 Catholic World Sept. 796/1 It was a thunder-storm played piano. 1941 W. H. Auden New Year Let. i. 17 Singing or sighing as they go: Exalté, piano, or in doubt. 1985 P. Devlin Easing the Passing (1986) xiv. 124 The Solicitor-General sensed at once the nature of the case and opened it piano. B. n.¹ Music. A soft or quiet passage; (also) a soft or gentle tone. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > volume > [noun] > soft tone pp1724 piano1730 pianissimo1781 1730 in E. F. Rimbault Pianoforte (1860) 149 An harpsichord, on which..may be performed..either in the forts or pianos. 1735 J. Miller Man of Taste iv. 62 I had a great fat She-Creature sat next me, that had got the Ptysick, and wheesed so hideously all the time, that I could not hear a single Piano! 1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy I. xxiii. 169 The forte or piano of a certain wind instrument they use. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems 101 Banish vile Italian tricks From out your quorum, Nor fortes wi' pianos mix. 1859 T. P. Thompson Audi Alteram Partem II. xcvii. 83 A musical performer, who filled his composition with pianos. 1886 Athenæum 6 Feb. 209/1 Much was left to desire on the score of delicacy, a pianissimo being never obtained, and even a piano but seldom. 1961 A. Hopkins Talking about Symphonies iv. 55 The sheer volume of sound created here is reduced to a sudden piano. 1992 Times 25 Feb. 13/1 Ah, Stella, she had a very good piano. C. adj. 1. Of music, singing, etc.: soft. Also figurative. ΚΠ 1756 Mem. Young Lady of Quality III. 277 She admired this Opera to distraction, and accompanied every moving Air in a soft Piano Tone of Voice. 1815 W. Drennan Fugitive Pieces in Verse & Prose 21 Soft piano pipes, and brazen throat Striving for mastery. 1880 G. Grove Dict. Music II. 113/2 Leggiero passages are usually, though not invariably, piano, and they may be either legato or staccato. 1884 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 782/2 The cry for peace will probably become very piano. 1955 Times 12 July 5/4 In piano singing her tone remains as pure as the line remains clearly drawn. 1991 Jrnl. Royal Mus. Assoc. 116 203 The use of forte markings to emphasize just two notes in a passage otherwise piano. 2. In extended use: understated, restrained. Sometimes also: subdued, reserved. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > calmness > meekness or mildness > [adjective] stillc825 tamec888 mildeOE lithea1000 daftc1000 meekc1325 lambishc1374 meeklyc1375 benign1377 temperatec1380 quieta1382 gall-lessa1398 mansuetea1425 meeta1425 unwrathful1542 rageless1578 lamb-like?1592 mildya1603 milky1602 pigeon-livered1604 placid1614 spleenless?1615 passive1616 unprovokable1646 milken1648 uncaptious1661 stomachless1727 unindignant1789 pianoa1817 ireless1829 unquarrelsome1830 quiet-goinga1835 uncholeric1834 unoffendable1839 baby-milda1845 quiet-tempered1846 turtlish1855 pathic1857 a1817 J. Austen Persuasion (1818) IV. vi. 120 James Benwick is rather too piano for me. View more context for this quotation 1900 E. Glyn Visits of Elizabeth 188 The Marquis..looked thoroughly worn out and as piano as a beaten dog. 1922 A. Huxley Let. 9 Sept. (1969) 209 Aunt Nettie is with us: but happily she is in a very calm and piano mood so that she is quite an agreeable companion. 1953 E. M. Forster Hill of Devi 138 Very piano and tired, poor dear. 1999 Observer (Nexis) 6 June (Review section) 4 I overheard someone saying, ‘Yes, Richard has been rather piano recently.’ Piano!? You'd be toto bloody sordino if you were in my shoes, darling. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.²1772n.³1835v.1854adv.n.¹adj.1683
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pianon.2

Compounds

Derivatives

pianon.3

pianov.

pianoadv.n.1adj.

pianon.²

pianon.³

pianoadv.n.¹adj.