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pianoforte

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pi⋅an⋅o⋅forte

  [pee-an-uh-fawrt, -fohrt; pee-an-uh-fawr-tee, -tey, -fohr-]
Use pianoforte in a Sentence
–noun
a piano.
Origin:
1760–70; < It (gravecembalo col) piano e forte lit., (harpsicord with) soft and loud, equiv. to piano soft (see piano 2 ) + forte loud (see forte 2 )
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pi·an·o·for·te   (pē-ān'ō-fôr'tā, -fôr'tē, pē-ān'ō-fôrt')   
n.  A piano.

[Italian, from (gravecembalo col) piano (e) forte, (harpsichord with) soft (and) loud : piano, soft; see piano2 + forte, loud; see forte2.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

pianoforte [(pee-an-uh-fawrt, pee-an-uh-fawr-tay)]

The full name of the piano, the common musical instrument with a board of black and white keys, eighty-eight in all. The keys operate hammers that strike wires. Pianoforte is Italian for “soft-loud”; it received this name because its level of loudness depends on how hard the player strikes the keys.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

pianoforte 
1767, from It., from piano e forte "soft and loud," in full, gravicembalo col piano e forte "harpsichord with soft and loud" (c.1710), so called by inventor B. Cristofori (1655-1731) of Padua because the ability via dampers to vary the tone is one of the main changes from the harpsichord.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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