Etymology

pianola

P3I1A1N1O1L1A1

Today it means: A mechanical piano which uses a roll of perforated paper to operate its keys, instead of being played by a pianist. Full definition →

English piano ← Italian pianoforte ← Latin fortis
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pleth₂-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pel-?
  3. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*pl̥h₂nós
  5. Proto-Italic*plānos
  6. Latinplānus
  7. Italianpiano
  8. Proto-Indo-European*bʰerǵʰ-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*dʰer-?
  10. Proto-Indo-European*dʰerǵʰ-
  11. Proto-Italic*forktis
  12. Old Latinforctis
  13. Latinfortis
  14. Italianforte
  15. Italianpianoforte
  16. Englishpianoforteclip.
  17. Englishpiano
  18. English todaypianola

From piano + -ola.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.