[pee-an-oh, pyan-oh] 
| a musical instrument in which felt-covered hammers, operated from a keyboard, strike the metal strings. |
[pee-ah-noh; It. pyah-naw] Music.| 1. | soft; subdued. |
| 2. | softly. Abbreviation: p, p. |
| pi·an·o 1 (pē-ān'ō, pyān'ō) n. pl. pi·an·os A musical instrument with a manual keyboard actuating hammers that strike wire strings, producing sounds that may be softened or sustained by means of pedals. [Italian, short for pianoforte; see pianoforte.] |
| pi·a·no 2 (pē-ä'nō, pyä'-) adv. & adj. Abbr. p In a soft or quiet tone. Used chiefly as a direction. n. pl. pi·a·nos A passage to be played softly or quietly. [Italian, from Late Latin plānus, smooth, graceful, from Latin, flat; see pelə-2 in Indo-European roots.] |
A musical direction meaning “to be performed softly”; the opposite of forte. As the name of a musical instrument, it is short for pianoforte.
oʊ
