Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Piano

Pi·a′no (pē·ä′nō), a. & adv. [It., even, smooth, soft, fr. L. planus even, level.] (Mus.) Soft; — a direction to the performer to execute a certain passage softly, and with diminished volume of tone. (Abbrev. p.)

Pi·an′o, Pi·an′o·for′te, n. [It. piano soft (fr. L. planus even, smooth; see Plain, a.) + It. forte strong, fr. L. fortis (see Fort).] (Mus.) A well-known musical instrument somewhat resembling the harpsichord, and consisting of a series of wires of graduated length, thickness, and tension, struck by hammers moved by keys.

Dumb piano. See Digitorium. — Grand piano. See under Grand. — Square piano, one with a horizontal frame and an oblong case. — Upright piano, one with an upright frame and vertical wires.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.