castrato

cas·tra·to

C c

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [ka-strah-toh, kuh-; Italian kah-strah-taw]
- /kæˈstrɑ toʊ, kə-; Italian kɑˈstrɑ tɔ/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [ka-strah-toh, kuh-; Italian kah-strah-taw]
- /kæˈstrɑ toʊ, kə-; Italian kɑˈstrɑ tɔ/

Definitions of castrato word

noun castrato (in 17th- and 18th-century opera) a male singer whose testicles were removed before puberty, allowing the retention of a soprano or alto voice 3
noun castrato a singer castrated as a boy to preserve the soprano or contralto range of his voice, esp. in 16th-18th cent. Italy 3
noun plural castrato a male singer, especially in the 18th century, castrated before puberty to prevent his soprano or contralto voice range from changing. 1
noun castrato A male singer castrated in boyhood so as to retain a soprano or alto voice. The practice of castration was banned in 1903. 1
noun castrato A male who has been castrated, especially a male whose testicles have been removed before puberty in order to retain his boyish voice. 0
noun castrato A male soprano or alto voice produced by castration of the treble singer before puberty, intended to conserve his voice; the singer. 0

See all 9 definitions of castrato

Information block about the term

Origin of castrato

First appearance:

before 1755

One of the 47% newest English words

1755-65; < Italian < Latin castrāt(us); see castrate

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Castrato

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Castrato

castrato popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 66% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

castrato usage trend in Literature

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