pianoyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[piano 词源字典]
piano: [19] Piano is short for pianoforte [18], a term borrowed from Italian which means literally ‘softloud’. It was a lexicalization of an epithet (piano e forte ‘soft and loud’) applied in the early 18th century to a new sort of harpsichord whose volume could be varied by the use of dampers. Italian piano itself is descended from Latin plānus ‘flat, even’, later ‘smooth’, source of English plain. It was introduced into English as a musical direction in the late 17th century.
=> plain, plane[piano etymology, piano origin, 英语词源]
piano (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1803, from French piano (18c.), Italian piano, shortened forms of pianoforte (q.v.). As an adverb, "softly," in musical directions (superlative pianissimo), attested from 1680s. Piano wire attested from 1831.