alto

[al-toh]Music.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR alto ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural al·tos.

the lowest female voice; contralto.

the highest male voice; countertenor.

a singer with such a voice.

a musical part for such a voice.

the second highest of the four parts of a mixed vocal chorus, or the voices or persons singing this part.

the second highest instrument in a family of musical instruments, as the viola in the violin family or the althorn in the cornet family.

adjective

of, relating to, or having the tonal range of the alto.

(of a musical instrument) second highest in a family of musical instruments: alto saxophone.

Origin of alto

1775–85; < Italian < Latin altus high

alto-

variant of alti-: altostratus.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for alto

deep, bass, low-pitched, resonant, sonorous

Examples from the Web for alto

Contemporary Examples of alto

But how can I say that when the protagonist is a talking bear who plays the alto sax?
What are the Best Novels on Music?
Ted Gioia
October 19, 2013
He previously served as executive chef of Fiamma Osteria, Convivio, and Alto.
Fresh Picks
Michael White
March 18, 2011

Historical Examples of alto

But there was one spot thrown into alto relievo by the sombre drapery of woe.
The Story of My Life
Egerton Ryerson
Drusilla Osborn was first, then Lettie Burley, an alto, came next.
Blue Ridge Country
Jean Thomas
I will alto make it a possession for the bittern, and pools for water.
Bible Animals;
J. G. Wood
Marjon accompanied him with soft, subdued guitar-strokes, and with her alto voice.
The Quest
Frederik van Eeden
Charlie took tenor, and Sybil treble, and I alto, and the sexton bass.
Dodo, Volumes 1 and 2
Edward Frederic Benson

British Dictionary definitions for alto

alto

noun plural -tos

the highest adult male voice; countertenor

(in choral singing) a shortened form of contralto

a singer with such a voice

another name for viola 1 (def. 1)

a flute, saxophone, etc, that is the third or fourth highest instrument in its group

adjective

denoting a flute, saxophone, etc, that is the third or fourth highest instrument in its group

Word Origin for alto

C18: from Italian: high, from Latin altus

alto-

combining form

highaltocumulus; altostratus

Word Origin for alto-

from Latin altus high

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for alto

1784, "man with an alto voice," from Italian alto (canto), from Latin altus "high" (see old). Originally a "high" man's voice, now more commonly applied to the lower range of women's voices (which is more strictly the contralto), an extension first recorded in 1881.

The alto in a man is totally distinct from the contralto in a woman. The tone is utterly different -- the best notes of the one are certainly not the best notes of the other; and although in certain cases a contralto may sing with good effect music written for a male alto (e.g. in some oratorios), yet the converse is scarcely ever true. ["How to Sing," 1890]

As a type of saxophone, from 1869.

alto in Culture

alto

The lowest range of the female singing voice, also called contralto. (Compare mezzo soprano and soprano.)