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  1. contralto love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Music The lowest female voice or voice part, intermediate in range between soprano and tenor.
  2. n. Music A woman having a contralto voice.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. In modern music, the voice intermediate in quality and range between soprano and tenor, having a usual compass of about two octaves upward from the F below middle C; the lowest of the varieties of the female voice. In medieval music, in which the melody was either in a middle voice or passed from one voice to another, and which utilized only male singers, the upper voice was naturally called altus. As music for mixed voices developed, that female voice which was nearest the altus, and thus most contrasted with it, was called contr'alto. Also alto.
  2. n. A singer with a contralto voice.
  3. Pertaining to, or possessed of the quality of, a contralto: as, a contralto voice.

Wiktionary

  1. n. music The lowest female voice or voice part, higher than tenor and lower than soprano. The terms contralto and alto refer to a similar musical pitch, but among singers, the term contralto is reserved for female singers; the equivalent male form is counter-tenor. Originally the contratenor altus was a high countermelody sung against the tenor or main melody.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. The part sung by the highest male or lowest female voices; the alto or counter tenor.
  2. n. the voice or singer performing this part.
  3. adj. (Mus.) Of or pertaining to a contralto, or to the part in music called contralto.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. of or being the lowest female voice
  2. n. the lowest female singing voice
  3. n. a woman singer having a contralto voice

Etymologies

  1. Contraction of contratenor alto, from Latin contratenor altus. (Wiktionary)
  2. Italian : contra-, below (from Latin contrā-, contra-) + alto, alto; see alto. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “But the title-rôle in the original Italian version was written for, and sung by, Guadagni, an artificial contralto (_contralto musico_).”

    Style in Singing

  • “Her majestic contralto is heard in concert halls and opera houses around the world and we were lucky today to have her give us a sample with "0 Canada".”

    Out of Character

  • “Joscelyn Burnett, the famous contralto, is spending a few days in Kensington on her return from her Maritime concert tour.”

    Chronicles of Avonlea

  • “She has more knowledge of the theatre, more science, taste, and energy, than any of them; but her voice, a soft contralto, is out of use and feeble.”

    Life in Mexico, During a Residence of Two Years in That Country

  • “She remembered her voice that had been called a contralto, low and deep; and how she used to sing the simple songs she knew.”

    The Border Legion

  • “The mistake was not as absurd as it may seem, for it is a fact that the voice which is called a contralto, if it is a good and clear and fairly resonant voice, sounds at a distance very much indeed like a 'cello or the lower register of a violin.”

    Jason

  • “It was a madrigal this time, airy and changing, and sung by four men, one of whom had a beautiful male contralto, which is a rarity even in Italy.”

    Stradella

  • “One of the recurring themes was the large contingent of "Midwest Mafia Merolini" centering in Iowa, such as contralto Suzanne Hendrix above...”

    Meet The Merolini

  • “Oh, father, father!' she says, kind of contralto, 'can this be true?”

    Cabbages and Kings

  • “He was an artist through and through, possessing a sweet nor yet an uncultivated voice -- a blend between a low tenor and a high baritone -- I was almost about to write a "contralto," it was so soft and liquid.”

    Marse Henry, Complete An Autobiography

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equivalents (2)

Other words for ‘contralto’

  1. low-pitched
  1. low

hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. singing voice

same context (27)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. baritone
  2. soprano
  3. tenor
  4. timbre
  5. purr
  1. drawl
  2. mezzo
  3. alto
  4. singsong
  5. saxophone
  1. bass
  2. treble
  3. barytone
  4. cadence
  5. raspy
  1. rasp
  2. brogue
  3. undertone
  4. monotone
  5. chime
  1. croak
  2. a-tingle
  3. tuba
  4. mezzo-soprano
  5. female
  1. countertenor
  2. a

reverse dictionary (11)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. Anderson
  2. Schumann-Heink
  1. ernestine schumann-heink
  2. marian anderson
  1. contralto
  2. alto
  1. contratenor
  2. mezzo-soprano
  1. contr.
  2. mezzo
  1. voice

tags (2)

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  1. music
  1. singing

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‘contralto’ has been looked up 1742 times, added to 24 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 11.