alto

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.təʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.toʊ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æltəʊ

Noun

alto (plural altos or 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.
2. A person or musical instrument that performs the alto part.
3. (colloquial, music) An alto saxophone

Usage notes

• Nouns often modified by "alto": saxophone, clarinet, flute, recorder, part, solo, voice, singer.

Synonyms

• (musical part or section): contratenor altus, high countertenor

Coordinate terms

• (music) SATB (Initialism of soprano, alto, tenor, bass.)

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• alto on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• ATOL, Toal, a lot, alot, atlo-, lota, talo-, tola

Asturian

Adjective

alto n sg

1. neuter singular of altu

Dutch

Etymology

From a shortening of alternatieveling or alternatief +‎ -o.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑl.toː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: al‧to

Noun

alto m (plural alto's)

1. (Netherlands, derogatory) Someone who participates in an alternative subculture (e.g. a hipster, emo or punk).

   Synonyms: alternatieveling, alternativo

Esperanto

Etymology

alta +‎ -o.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalto/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

alto (accusative singular alton, plural altoj, accusative plural altojn)

1. height; elevation; altitude
   • (Can we date this quote?), Vladimír Váňa (translator), Aventuroj de la Brava Soldato Ŝvejk dum la Mondmilito (The Good Soldier Švejk) by Jaroslav Hašek, Part 1, Chapter 15,

     Pri kio morgaŭ prelegi al unujaraj volontuloj en la lernejo? Ĉu pri tio, kiel ni difinas la alton de monteto? Kial ni mezuras la alton ĉiam de la marnivelo? Kiel el altoj super la marnivelo elkalkuli propran alton de la monteto ekde ĝia piedo?

     What should he lecture on to the volunteers in the school tomorrow? How do we determined the height of a given hill? Why do we reckon the height from sea level? How can we establish from its height above sea level the height of a mountain from its foot? (Cecil Parrott translation, Heinemann, 1973)

   • (Can we date this quote?), Sergio Pokrovskij (translator), La Majstro kaj Margarita (The Master and Margarita) by Mikhail Bulgakov, Book Two, Chapter 24,

     [...] la peza fenestra kurteno ŝoviĝis flanken, la fenestro larĝe malfermiĝis kaj en la fora alto vidiĝis la plena [...] luno.

     the heavy curtain over the window was pushed aside, the window opened wide, and high above (lit. in the distant height) appeared the full moon.

See also

• alteco

French

French Wikipedia has an article on:

alto

Wikipedia ^fr

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /al.to/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

alto m (plural altos)

1. (music) alto
2. (music) Ellipsis of violon alto.; viola

Further reading

• “alto”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese alto, from Latin altus. This form is probably semi-learned or influenced by learned orthography, as with Portuguese alto and Spanish alto. Cf. also the now archaic form outo, which was probably popularly inherited from an unattested hypothetical *outo, present also in place names as Montouto (“High-hill”), from the same Latin word (compare also Old Spanish oto).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Adjective

alto (feminine alta, masculine plural altos, feminine plural altas)

1. tall
2. high

   Antonym: baixo

3. (nautical) deep

Derived terms

• altura

Related terms

• alzar

Noun

alto m (plural altos)

1. top; high place

Adverb

alto

1. high

References

• “alto” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “alto” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “alto” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “alto” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “alto” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Ingrian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *alto. Cognates include Finnish aalto (dialectal alto) and dialectal Estonian ald.

Pronunciation

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈɑlto/,
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈɑlto/,
• (Hevaha) IPA^(key): /ˈɑlto/,
• Rhymes: -ɑlto
• Hyphenation: al‧to

Noun

alto

1. wave

Declension

Synonyms

• laine

References

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 11
• Arvo Laanest (1997) Isuri keele Hevaha murde sõnastik, Eesti Keele Instituut, page 19

Italian

Etymology

From Latin altus (“high”), from Proto-Italic *altos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós, derived from the root *h₂el- (“to grow, nourish”). Cognate with English old and Welsh allt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.to/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alto
• Hyphenation: àl‧to

Adjective

alto (feminine alta, masculine plural alti, feminine plural alte, superlative altissimo)

1. high, tall

   Antonym: basso

   L'uomo alto è il mio padre. ― The tall man is my father.

2. deep

   uno stagno alto 4 metri ― a pond 4 meters deep

3. loud

   ad alta voce ― in a loud voice

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → English: alto
• → German: Alt

Further reading

• alto in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• lato, talo

Kapampangan

Alternative forms

• altao (obsolete, Spanish orthography)
• altau (archaic)
• altaw (archaic, Súlat Wáwâ)

Etymology

From earlier altau, metathesis from Proto-Philippine *lətaw. Compare Tagalog litaw and Cebuano lutaw.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: al‧to
• IPA^(key): /əlˈto/,

Verb

altó

1. to float

   Synonyms: gato, lutang

Derived terms

Ladino

Etymology

From Latin altus.

Adjective

alto (Latin spelling, feminine alta, masculine plural altos, feminine plural altas)

1. high

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.toː/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.to/,

Etymology 1

From altus (“high, deep”) +‎ -ō.

Verb

altō (present infinitive altāre); first conjugation, no perfect or supine stem

1. to make high, raise, elevate

Conjugation

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

altō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of altus

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

altō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of altus

References

• “alto”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• alto in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• alto in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) the tide is coming in: aestus ex alto se incitat (B. G. 3.12)
    
  • (ambiguous) the storm drives some one on an unknown coast: procella (tempestas) aliquem ex alto ad ignotas terras (oras) defert
    
  • (ambiguous) to make fast boats to anchors: naves (classem) constituere (in alto)
    

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Rural Central Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈaw.tʷ/
• Homophone: auto (Brazil)
• Rhymes: (Portugal) -altu, (Brazil) -awtu
• Hyphenation: al‧to

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese alto, from Latin altus, ultimately of Proto-Indo-European origin. This form is likely a semi-learned term, or was influenced by learned elements of the language and uses such an orthography, as with Galician and Spanish alto (which have popularly inherited variants outo and oto, respectively). There was once likely an *outo in Old Galician-Portuguese that is not attested, but which left an inherited descendant in Galician. See also outeiro, a related word.

Adjective

alto (feminine alta, masculine plural altos, feminine plural altas, comparable, comparative mais alto, superlative o mais alto or altíssimo, diminutive altinho, augmentative altão)

1. loud
2. tall
3. high
4. (informal) excessive, extreme

Derived terms

• altamente
• altão (augmentative)
• altinho (diminutive)
• altíssimo (superlative)
• altura
• enaltecer

Related terms

• alçar
• altitude

Adverb

alto (comparable, comparative mais alto, superlative o mais alto)

1. loud; loudly
   • 2003, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fênix [Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix] (Harry Potter; 5), Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, →ISBN, page 445:

     Não fale tão alto...

     Don't speak so loud...

Descendants

• Kabuverdianu: altu

Etymology 2

From the imperative of German halten.

Interjection

alto!

1. halt!

See also

• alto lá!

References

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalto/
• Rhymes: -alto
• Syllabification: al‧to

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin altus, ultimately of Proto-Indo-European origin. The form alto represents a pronunciation influenced by the most learned layers of the language, and is not the normal phonetic result expected in a naturally inherited word. Cf. the now archaic form oto, which was used more often in Old Spanish and is the form of the word that was completely popularly inherited, preserved in some toponyms/placenames, and its derivative otear and the rare or regional otar. Compare also archaic Galician outo (versus the standard alto today). See also the related Spanish otero (and Portuguese outeiro).

Adjective

alto (feminine alta, masculine plural altos, feminine plural altas, superlative altísimo)

1. tall

   Antonym: bajo

   Esas chicas son altas. ― Those girls are tall.

2. high

   Antonym: bajo

   Es un número alto. ― It's a high number.

3. loud

   En voz alta. ― Out loud.

   alto y claro ― loud and clear

4. upper, top
5. senior (rank)

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

alto m (plural altos)

1. height (in measurements)

Adverb

alto

1. up, high, highly
2. loudly

   gritar alto

   scream loudly

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German halt.

Noun

alto m (plural altos)

1. stop, halt
2. break, pause, rest
3. (traffic) stop (signal)
4. (traffic) red light

   Antonym: siga

Derived terms

Interjection

¡alto!

1. halt!; stop!

Further reading

• “alto”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

References