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alto

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alto¹

  • /ˈæl.təʊ/ UK
  • /ˈæl.toʊ/ US

Rhymes with -æltəʊ

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Italian alto (“high”). Doublet of old.

noun altos · alti

  1. A musical part or section higher than tenor and lower than soprano, formerly the part that performed a countermelody above the tenor or main melody.

    Similar: contratenor altus, high countertenor

  2. A person or musical instrument that performs the alto part.
  3. colloquial An alto saxophone.

Alto²

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Spanish alto.

proper noun Altos · ALTO

  1. A surname.
  2. A census-designated place in Marin County, California, United States.
  3. abbreviation, initialism initialism of air launch to orbit

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: contralto, countertenor, high, high-pitched, low-pitched, low, viola, chorister, higher, height, upper, tall, haut, top, senior, trentino

Translations

Every language

noun musical part

Españolalto, contralto
한국어알토 alto, 여성저음 yeoseongjeo'eum
日本語アルト aruto
中文中音 zhōngyīn
Portuguêscontralto
Françaisalto
DeutschAlt
Ελληνικάκοντράλτο kontrálto
Русскийальт alʹt
العربيةألتو

noun person or instrument

한국어알토 alto
日本語アルト aruto
Portuguêscontralto
DeutschAlt
Italianocontralto
Русскийальт alʹt
Tiếng Việtngười hát giọng nữ trầm, đàn antô, kèn antô

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Cite this
MLA

"alto." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/alto. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

alto. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/alto

Chicago

"alto." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/alto.

BibTeX
@misc{alto_2026,
  title = {alto},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/alto},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}