How the piano got its name

The piano got its name from the Italian word "pianoforte," which means "soft-loud" in English. This name reflects the instrument's ability to be played quiety, or loud, unlike its predecessors such as the harpsichord which used a plucking mechanism to generate the sound, or an organ which used air flowing through metal pipes to cause a vibration which generated sound. The piano was the first keyboard instrument which could be played with such a dynamic range and this was reflected in the name 'pianoforte'