piano Italian · revision 37682

+ {{homograph|1|flat; slowly; floor}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=end of the 12th century, Tuscan document|origins=ine-pro *pl(e)h₂-nó-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpja.no/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''piano''' (feminine piana, masculine plural piani, feminine plural piane, superlative pianissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+ As a noun “floor; plane; plain” it has the plural ''piani'', in Old Italian also ''le pianora''.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(DEI|2894)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The word meaning “flat; slowly; floor” is [[inh|la|planus|alt=plānus|t=flat, level; easy, clear]], with the noun [[m|la|plānum|t=level ground, plain]], its neuter used as a noun.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The adjective is found across the Romance languages except Romanian: [[fr|plain]], [[oc|pla]], [[ca|pla]], [[es|llano]] and [[pt|chão]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|2893)^(REW 1935) Wiktionary compares [[scn|chianu]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ De Vaan derives the Latin word from [[itc-pro|*plāno-]], [[ine-pro|*pl(e)h₂-nó-|t=flattened]], and compares [[lt|plónas|t=thin]] and [[lv|plāns|t=flat, thin]].^(de Vaan 2008) Nocentini adds that another form of the root lies behind [[de|Flur]] and English [[m|en|floor]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The noun for the instrument is a clipping of [[pianoforte]], named because it could play both soft and loud, and the short form probably reached Italian through French, where it is recorded from 1798.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's earliest record is the noun “stretch of plain” in a Tuscan document on an exchange of land from the end of the 12th century.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The adjective “flat, level” is first in King Enzo, before 1272: ''Vanne in Puglia piana'' “go to flat Apulia”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|13, 277)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already Latin used the adjective for what is easy and clear, and these senses are in Italian by Bono Giamboni (before 1292).^(DEI|2893)^(DELI 1999) The adverb “slowly” is in Dante and “in a low voice” in Boccaccio (1353); as a musical direction for playing softly ''piano'' is recorded in 1584, and it passed into German in 1619, English in 1638 and French in 1732.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT)

+

+ The noun took on the senses of a flat surface (1556), of each storey of a building (Vasari, before 1574) and, with Galileo (1638), of the plane of geometry.^(DELI 1999) The storey sense reached English in 1860.^(DIFIT) From the geometrical plane came the figurative “level” (''sullo stesso piano'').^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ The instrument was announced in 1711 as a harpsichord ''col piano e forte'', the invention of Bartolomeo Cristofori;^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''pianoforte'' is recorded from 1771 and the short ''piano'' from 1831.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * End of the 12th century – The noun “plain” is recorded in a Tuscan document.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1272 – King Enzo uses the adjective “flat”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for “easy, clear”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses the adverb “slowly”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “in a low voice”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1574 – Vasari uses ''piano'' for a storey of a building.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1584 – ''Piano'' is used as a musical direction.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1638 – Galileo uses ''piano'' for the plane of geometry.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1638 – The musical term is recorded in English.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1831 – ''Piano'' is used for the pianoforte.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|flat]], [[m|en|level]], without rises or hollows: ''una strada piana''; flat, neither concave nor convex: ''un piatto piano''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(geometry)'' Lying in a plane: ''geometria piana''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Easy, smooth; clear, plain: ''uno stile piano''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(linguistics)'' Stressed on the second-to-last syllable.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(athletics)'' Of a race run without hurdles.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|slowly]], gently, with care: ''Guida piano!''^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # Softly, in a low voice, ''(music)'' [[m|en|piano]].^(Wiktionary)^(DIFIT)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A flat surface forming the top of a piece of furniture; a shelf: ''il piano della scrivania''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Flat land, a [[m|en|plain]].^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(geometry)'' A [[m|en|plane]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|storey]] of a building: ''Abitiamo al terzo piano.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Level, degree of importance; point of view: ''sul piano economico''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A piano, short for [[pianoforte]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[piana]]

+ * [[pianura]]

+ * [[pianoro]]

+ * [[pianerottolo]]

+ * [[pianella]]

+ * [[pianeggiare]]

+ * [[pianterreno]]

+ * [[pianoterra]]

+ * [[altopiano]]

+ * [[appianare]]

+ * [[spianare]]

+ * [[ripiano]]

+ * [[pianoforte]]

+ * [[pianista]]

+ * [[pianino]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|plan}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1685|origins=fr planter}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpja.no/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''piano''' ''m'' (plural piani)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The word meaning “plan” is [[bor|fr|plan|t=drawing, plan; project]], recorded in French from 1569 for a drawing and, from 1600 for a worked-out project.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The French noun was first ⟨plant⟩, “planting, a thing planted”, from [[m|fr|planter|t=to plant, to found]], and was reshaped under the influence of [[m|fr|plan|t=flat]], which comes from the same Latin adjective as homograph 1; the confusion arose in the language of architecture.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The derivatives [[pianificare]] and [[pianificazione]] are calques of the Russian terms of Soviet five-year planning, and appear in the 1930s.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Giovanni Battista Lauri in 1685, in the sense “programme, project, purpose”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) The sense “technical drawing of a building or machine” follows in Giovanni Pietro Bergantini in 1758.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ DEI records the word in military language and in the phrase ''piano di guerra'' “plan of war” (1851).^(DEI|2894) In the 20th century it became a word of economic planning (''piano quinquennale'' “five-year plan”), and ''pianificare'' is first recorded in 1937, in “planned terrorism” in L'Unità.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) In everyday use it now means any scheme or intention (''che piani hai per l'estate?'').^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1569 – French ''plan'' is recorded for a drawing.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1685 – Giovanni Battista Lauri uses ''piano'' for a programme or project.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1758 – Bergantini uses it for a technical drawing.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1937 – ''Pianificare'' is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A technical [[m|en|drawing]] of a building, machine or other structure, used as a guide in making it.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A [[m|en|plan]], a programme of action: ''un piano di evacuazione''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An idea or scheme for the future: ''Hai già dei piani per domani?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pianificare]]

+ * [[pianificazione]]

+ * [[pianificatore]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pianezza]]

+ * [[planare]]

+ * [[piantare]]

+ * [[piatto]]

+ * [[la|planus]]

+ * [[fr|plan]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A minor homograph ''piano'' “of Pope Pius” is used in ''abito piano'', the cassock that Pius IX made obligatory, and in the papal ''Ordine piano''.^(GDLI|13, 277)^(GRADIT 2003) Common phrases of ''piano'' “flat; slowly” include ''piano piano'' “very slowly”, ''andarci piano'' “to go easy” and ''primo piano'' “foreground; close-up”.^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}