Meanings
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1
noun
a person who plays the piano, especially professionally or with considerable skill
The pianist returned to the stage for a final encore.
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2
noun
historical slang: a clandestine radio operator, especially an agent communicating by wireless during the Second World War
The resistance cell's pianist transmitted a coded report to London.
Thesaurus
Etymology
Borrowed from French pianiste and Italian pianista, formed from piano + an agent suffix corresponding to English -ist. The wartime radio-operator sense was covert slang, probably comparing rapid manipulation of telegraph keys with playing a keyboard.