alto

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian alto (“high”).

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æltəʊ

Noun

alto (plural altos)

An alto saxophone

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.

Further reading

• alto on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

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

Adjective

alto n sg

1. neuter singular of altu

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

   Synonyms: alternatieveling, alternativo

Etymology

alta +‎ -o.

Noun

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

1. height; elevation; altitude
   • 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)

   • 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /al.to/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

alto m (plural altos)

1. (music) alto
2. (music) viola

Further reading

• “alto” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Etymology

From Old 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 Old Portuguese *outo, from the same Latin word (compare also Old Spanish oto, still found in some placenames today).

Adjective

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

1. tall

Etymology

From Latin altus (“high”), ultimately of Proto-Indo-European origin.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

alto (feminine singular alta, masculine plural alti, feminine plural alte)

1. high, tall
2. deep

   uno stagno alto 4 metri ― a pond 4 meters deep

3. loud

   ad alta voce ― in a loud voice

Anagrams

• lato, talo

Etymology

From Latin altus.

Adjective

alto m (Latin spelling)

1. high

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.toː/, [ˈaɫ.toː]

Etymology 1

From altus (“high, deep”) +‎ -ō.

Etymology 2

See etymology on the main entry.

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, 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)
    

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈaɫ.tu/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈaw.tu/
  • Homophone: auto
• Rhymes: -awtu

Etymology 1

From Old 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 Portuguese that is not attested^[1], but which left an inherited descendant in Galician. See also outeiro, a related word.

Etymology 2

From the imperative of German halten.

References

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalto/, [ˈal̪t̪o]

Etymology 1

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^[1], and its derivative otear and the rare or regional otar^[2]. Compare also archaic Galician outo (versus the standard alto today). See also the related Spanish otero (and Portuguese outeiro).

Etymology 2

From German halt.

Further reading

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

References