castrato

American  

[ka-strah-toh, kuh-, kah-strah-taw] / kæˈstrɑ toʊ, kə-, kɑˈstrɑ tɔ /

noun

• castrati
  plural

1. a male singer, especially in the 18th century, castrated before puberty to prevent his soprano or contralto voice range from changing.

---

castrato British  

/ kæˈstrɑːtəʊ /

noun

1. (in 17th- and 18th-century opera) a male singer whose testicles were removed before puberty, allowing the retention of a soprano or alto voice

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• castrati
  plural

Etymology

Origin of castrato

1755–65; < Italian < Latin castrāt ( us ); see castrate

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

castrato castrati

I did not, for example, expect: national elocutionists, Kim Kardashian’s vocal fry, the last Vatican castrato, the telling silence of lizards, Alexa or the delightful, data-based revelation that humans can reliably hear a smile.

From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2021

If we had a castrato in a gown singing, we’d be gushing harder at this eclipse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2017

There are very few skeletons of individuals known to have been castrated, so anthropologist Maria Belcastro and colleagues sought to learn about Farinelli the person and the castrato.

From Forbes ● Jun. 1, 2015

Or that the virtuosic soprano of the castrato was due to his artificially small and flexible larynx, combined with supersized lungs?

From Economist ● Jul. 24, 2014

The castrato whom they did engage was Carestini, who, though less celebrated, was at any rate a singularly artistic singer.

From Handel by Edward J. Dent

The roles of Farnace, Sifare and Arbate were originally written for castrati; the music for this all-high-voice cast proved varied enough that one didn’t miss the bass notes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

The book follows the story of two castrati who become successful opera singers in Venice and whose lives are intertwined.

From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2025

She has excelled in Baroque roles that veered from the mainstream, releasing recordings devoted to 19th century soprano Maria Malibran, castrati and composers Antonio Salieri and Agostino Steffani.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 7, 2023

In Vivaldi’s day, when castrati ruled the roost, the entire cast would have been male.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2023

In Handel’s London, the vogue for adult soloist castrati was short-lived, and Italian-style opera itself soon came up against stiff competition in the shape of what we would today call jukebox musicals.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall