# alto
## English
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

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

### Noun

alto (plural altos or alti)
* 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.
* A person or musical instrument that performs the alto part.
* (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

* alto clef
* alto cliff
* alto flute
* alto horn
* altoist
* alto recorder
* alto sax

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Further reading

* alto on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

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

## Aragonese
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin altus, ultimately of Proto-Indo-European origin.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈalto/
* Rhymes: -alto
* Syllabification: al‧to

### Adjective

alto (feminine alta, masculine plural altos, feminine plural altas, superlative altismo)
* tall
    Antonym: baixo
    ixas zagalas son altas. ― Those girls are tall.
* high
    Antonym: baixo
    ye un numero alto. ― It's a high number.
* loud
    En voz alta. ― Out loud.
    alto y claro ― loud and clear
* upper, top

### Noun

alto m
* height (in measurements)

### Adverb

alto
* up, high, highly
* above, over
    Impresionant o trazau per alto des montsThe layout above the mountains is impressive.
* loudly
    parlar altoto talk loudly

## Asturian
### Adjective

alto n sg
* neuter singular of altu

## Dutch
### Etymology

From a shortening of alternatieveling or alternatief +‎ -o.

### Pronunciation

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

### Noun

alto m (plural alto's)
* (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: /ˈalto/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

alto (accusative singular alton, plural altoj, accusative plural altojn)
* 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
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /al.to/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

alto m (plural altos)
* (music) alto
* (music) Ellipsis of violon alto.; viola

#### Descendants

* → Persian: آلتو (âlto)

### Further reading

* “alto”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 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: [ˈaltʊ]
* Rhymes: -altʊ, -alto
* Hyphenation: al‧to

### Adjective

alto (feminine alta, masculine plural altos, feminine plural altas)
* tall
* high
    Antonym: baixo
* (nautical) deep

#### Derived terms

* altura

#### Related terms

* alzar

### Noun

alto m (plural altos)
* top; high place

### Adverb

alto
* high

### References

* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “alto”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “alto”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “alto”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “alto”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “alto”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

## Ingrian
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (Ala-Laukaa) IPA: /ˈɑlto/, [ˈɑɫtŏ̞̥]
* (Soikkola) IPA: /ˈɑlto/, [ˈɑɫd̥o̞]
* (Hevaha) IPA: /ˈɑlto/, [ˈɑɫd̥o̞]
* Rhymes: -ɑlto
* Hyphenation: al‧to

### Noun

alto
* wave

#### 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

## Istriot
### Adjective

alto
* high

## 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: /ˈal.to/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -alto
* Hyphenation: àl‧to

### Adjective

alto (feminine alta, masculine plural alti, feminine plural alte, superlative altissimo)
* high, tall
    Antonym: basso
    L'uomo alto è mio padre. ― The tall man is my father.
* deep
    uno stagno alto 4 metri ― a pond 4 meters deep
* loud
    ad alta voce ― in a loud voice

#### Derived terms

* altamente
* altimetro
* Alto Adige
* Alto Volta
* altocumulo
* altolocato
* altopiano
* altostrato
* altura

#### Related terms

* altare
* altezza
* altisonante
* altitonante
* altitudine
* alzare

#### 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

* IPA: /əlˈto/ [əlˈtoː]
* Hyphenation: al‧to

### Verb

altó
* to float
    Synonyms: gato, lutang

#### Derived terms

* ipalto
* lalto
* mayalto
* pepalto

## Ladino
### Etymology

From Latin altus.

### Adjective

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

## Latin
### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈal.toː/, [ˈäɫ̪t̪oː]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈal.to/, [ˈäl̪t̪o]

### Etymology 1

From altus (“high, deep”) +‎ -ō.

#### Verb

altō (present infinitive altāre); first conjugation, no perfect or supine stems
* to make high, raise, elevate

##### Derived terms

* inaltō

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Adjective

altō
* dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of altus

### Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Participle

altō
* 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

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈaw.tu/ [ˈaʊ̯.tu]
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈaw.tu/ [ˈaʊ̯.tu]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈaw.to/ [ˈaʊ̯.to]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈal.tu/ [ˈaɫ.tu]
* (Rural Central Brazil) IPA: /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)
* loud
* tall
* high
* (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)
* loud; loudly
** 2003, J. K. Rowling, translated by Lia Wyler, 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 German halt, imperative form of German halten (“stop”).

#### Interjection

alto!
* halt!

#### See also

* alto lá!

### References

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

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈalto/ [ˈal̪.t̪o]
* 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)
* tall
    Antonym: bajo
    Esas chicas son altas. ― Those girls are tall.
* high
    Antonym: bajo
    Es un número alto. ― It's a high number.
* loud
    En voz alta. ― Out loud.
    alto y claro ― loud and clear
* upper, top
* senior (rank)

##### Derived terms

* Alta Austria
* Alta California
* alta costura
* alta danza
* Alta Edad Media
* alta fidelidad
* alta gama
* alta mar
* alta montaña
* alta tecnología
* alta tensión
* alta traición
* altamente
* altas esferas
* altas horas
* altear
* alteza
* altibajo
* altillo
* altísimo
* altivo
* alto alemán
* alto alemán medio
* alto cargo
* alto directivo
* alto ejecutivo
* alto el fuego
* alto funcionario
* Alto Garona
* alto horno
* Alto Loira
* alto mando
* Alto Perú
* Alto Rin
* Alto Saona
* altoandino
* altoaragonés
* altorrelieve
* Altos Alpes
* Altos Días Santos
* altos y bajos
* altura
* be alta
* cañuela alta
* casa de altos
* clase alta
* comillas altas
* cuello alto
* de alto abajo
* de altos vuelos
* en alto
* en alto grado
* enaltecer
* escuela alta
* lo alto
* marea alta
* Palo Alto
* pasar por alto
* por alto
* por todo lo alto
* sombrero de copa alta
* temporada alta
* tierras altas

##### Related terms

* altitud
* alzar

#### Noun

alto m (plural altos)
* height (in measurements)

#### Adverb

alto
* up, high, highly
* loudly
    gritar altoscream loudly

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from German halt.

#### Noun

alto m (plural altos)
* stop, halt
* break, pause, rest
* (traffic) stop (signal)
* (traffic) red light
    Antonym: siga

##### Derived terms

* alto el fuego
* dar el alto
* hacer un alto
* marcar el alto

#### Interjection

¡alto!
* halt!; stop!

### Further reading

* “alto”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

### References

* ↑ Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1983–1991) “alto”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos
* ↑ “otar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10