Soprano

How to spell soprano

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce soprano

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does soprano mean?

1. nounThe highest singing voice in women, boys, or some men, or a singer with that voice.

Soprano in a sentence

• The soprano hit the highest note in the final aria.

• The choir needed one more soprano to balance the lower parts.

Where does soprano come from?

Language of origin: Italian

The word comes straight from Italian soprano, which meant 'highest' and was built on sopra, meaning 'above', a descendant of the Latin supra, also 'above' or 'over'. In music it named the highest singing voice or the highest part in a vocal arrangement, the line that rises above all the others. English borrowed it during the eighteenth century, a period when Italian dominated the vocabulary of opera and serious music, alongside relatives such as 'alto', 'tenor', and 'bass'. The same Latin supra that gives soprano its 'sopr-' stem also sits inside English words like 'superior' and 'supreme', all carrying the idea of being on top. Because the spelling preserves the Italian -ano ending rather than an anglicised form, writers sometimes hesitate over the single 'p' and the final 'o'.

How the word is built

• sopra (above)
• -ano (Italian noun suffix)