Alto

How to spell alto

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce alto

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does alto mean?

1. nounThe lowest female singing voice, or a singer who has that range.
2. adjectiveDescribing a musical instrument pitched in the range just below the soprano member of its family.

Alto in a sentence

• noun

  She sang alto in the church choir for many years.

• adjective

  He switched from the tenor to the alto saxophone for the jazz solo.

• noun

  The choir needed one more alto to balance the higher voices.

• adjective

  The recorder consort included a small descant and a larger alto instrument.

Where does alto come from?

Language of origin: Italian

Alto comes straight from the Italian word alto, meaning 'high', which in turn descends from the Latin altus, the past participle of alere 'to nourish or grow', so its literal sense was 'grown tall' and therefore 'high'. In Italian music it was short for canto alto, the 'high song', the higher of the parts sung above the tenor in early polyphony. Curiously, what was once the 'high' part later came to name a relatively low range, especially the lowest common female or boys' voice, because the reference point shifted over the centuries. English took the word in around the seventeenth century as European choral and instrumental music spread, keeping the Italian spelling intact. The same altus root sits inside everyday English words such as 'altitude' and 'exalt', a handy reminder that the unexpected 'a' at the start really does mean 'high'.

How the word is built

• alt- (from Latin altus: high)
• -o (Italian noun/adjective ending)