P

16th letter of the English alphabet. In Semitic languages, in Greek, and in Latin, p had much the same sound as it normally has today in English when final, or when following s at the beginning of a word: the sound of an unvoiced bilabial plosive. In other positions in English, and especially when initial, p is aspirated.

The letter descended through the Greek, Etruscan, and Latin alphabets from the North Semitic pe, meaning ‘mouth’.

p

In music, abbreviation for the instruction piano.