contralto
pronunciation
How to pronounce contralto in British English: UK [kənˈtræltəʊ]
How to pronounce contralto in American English: US [kənˈtræltoʊ]
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- Noun:
- a woman singer having a contralto voice
- the lowest female singing voice
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- Adjective:
- of or being the lowest female voice
Word Origin
- contralto (n.)
- "lowest female voice," 1730, from Italian contralto; see contra- "against, opposite" + alto. The part next above the alto.
Example
- 1. Her voice was low , a voluptuously soft contralto .
- 2. In the early 1930s , years before the concert at the lincoln memorial that made her an international symbol of the american civil rights movement , marian anderson , the great philadelphia-born contralto , was probably better known overseas than she was in the united states .
- 3. Her voice was low and velvety , a soft contralto .
- 4. Out in the yard a woman 's hoarse contralto intoned a hymn .
- 5. Does a soprano sing higher or lower than a contralto ?