alto

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: Alto and alto-

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Italian alto (“high”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈæl.təʊ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈæl.toʊ/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -æltəʊ

Noun[edit]

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.
  3. (colloquial, music) An alto saxophone

Usage notes[edit]

Synonyms[edit]

Coordinate terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Asturian[edit]

Adjective[edit]

alto n sg

  1. neuter singular of altu

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From a shortening of alternatieveling or alternatief +‎ -o.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈɑl.toː/
  • Audio
    		(file)
  • Hyphenation: al‧to

Noun[edit]

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[edit]

Etymology[edit]

alta +‎ -o.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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.

See also[edit]

French[edit]

French Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fr
alto

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

alto m (plural altos)

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

Further reading[edit]

Galician[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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, preset also in place names as Montouto (“High-hill”), from the same Latin word (compare also Old Spanish oto).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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

  1. tall
  2. high

Antonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Noun[edit]

alto m (plural altos)

  1. top; high place

Adverb[edit]

alto

  1. high

References[edit]

  • “alto” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
  • “alto” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
  • “alto” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
  • “alto” in Santamarina, Antón (dir.), Ernesto González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja: Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (v 4.0). Santiago: ILG.
  • “alto” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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

Antonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Ladino[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin altus.

Adjective[edit]

alto m (Latin spelling)

  1. high

Latin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From altus (“high, deep”) +‎ -ō.

Verb[edit]

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

  1. I make high, raise, elevate.
Inflection[edit]
   Conjugation of alto (first conjugation, defective)
indicative singular plural
first second third first second third
active present altō altās altat altāmus altātis altant
imperfect altābam altābās altābat altābāmus altābātis altābant
future altābō altābis altābit altābimus altābitis altābunt
passive present altor altāris, altāre altātur altāmur altāminī altantur
imperfect altābar altābāris, altābāre altābātur altābāmur altābāminī altābantur
future altābor altāberis, altābere altābitur altābimur altābiminī altābuntur
subjunctive singular plural
first second third first second third
active present altem altēs altet altēmus altētis altent
imperfect altārem altārēs altāret altārēmus altārētis altārent
passive present alter altēris, altēre altētur altēmur altēminī altentur
imperfect altārer altārēris, altārēre altārētur altārēmur altārēminī altārentur
imperative singular plural
first second third first second third
active present — altā — — altāte —
future — altātō altātō — altātōte altantō
passive present — altāre — — altāminī —
future — altātor altātor — — altantor
non-finite forms active passive
present perfect future present perfect future
infinitives altāre — — altārī — —
participles altāns — — — — altandus
verbal nouns gerund supine
nominative genitive dative/ablative accusative accusative ablative
altāre altandī altandō altandum — —

Etymology 2[edit]

See the etymology of the main entry.

Participle[edit]

altō

  1. inflection of altus:
    1. dative masculine singular
    2. dative neuter singular
    3. ablative masculine singular
    4. ablative neuter singular

References[edit]

  • 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[1], 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[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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.

Adjective[edit]

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

  1. loud
  2. tall
  3. high
  4. (informal) excessive, extreme
Inflection[edit]
Inflection of alto
singular plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine
positive alto alta altos altas
comparative mais alto mais alta mais altos mais altas
superlative o mais alto
altíssimo 		a mais alta
altíssima 		os mais altos
altíssimos 		as mais altas
altíssimas
augmentative altão altona altões altonas
diminutive altinho altinha altinhos altinhas

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Adverb[edit]

alto (comparative mais alto superlative o mais alto)

  1. loud; loudly
    • 2003, Lya Wyler (translator), J. K. Rowling (English author), Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fênix (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Rocco, page 445:
      Não fale tão alto...
      Don't speak so loud...

Descendants[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From the imperative of German halten.

Interjection[edit]

alto!

  1. halt!

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1981-57942016000300579&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en

Spanish[edit]

Stop sign of Mexico

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈalto/, [ˈal̪t̪o]

Etymology 1[edit]

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).

Adjective[edit]

alto (feminine singular 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.
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From German halt.

Noun[edit]

alto m (plural altos)

  1. stop
  2. break, pause, rest
  3. (traffic) stop (signal)
  4. (traffic) red light
Antonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]

Interjection[edit]

¡alto!

  1. halt!; stop!

Further reading[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ https://www.scribd.com/document/157203089/Diccionario-Critico-Etimologico-castellano-A-CA-Corominas-Joan-pdf
  2. ^ http://dle.rae.es/?id=RK9ULwd
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