alto Italian · revision 37752

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=12th century, Ritmo di Sant'Alessio|origins=la altus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈal.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''alto''' (feminine alta, masculine plural alti, feminine plural alte, superlative altissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and dialect forms include Pisan and Lucchese [[m|roa-oit|elto]], Neapolitan [[m|nap|auto]] and Sicilian [[m|scn|altu]].^(LEI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|altus|t=high; deep]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[fr|haut]], [[oc|aut]], [[ca|alt]], [[es|alto]], [[pt|alto]] and [[sc|altu]], and with a prefix [[ro|înalt]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI)^(REW 1935) The French /h/ comes from [[frk|*hōh|t=high]].^(REW 1935) The Lucchese and Pisan form with /e/ may have been crossed with [[erto]].^(REW 1935)^(Prati 1951|44)

+

+ The Latin adjective has the form of the past participle of [[m|la|alō|t=to nourish, rear]], and most Italian dictionaries explain it as “grown, raised”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Nocentini adds Latin [[m|la|adolēscō|t=to grow up]] and [[m|la|adultus|t=grown]] from the same root, and the Germanic words for “old”, [[de|alt]] and [[m|en|old]].^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan is more cautious: the meanings are hard to connect, and Schrijver called the link unlikely, although the Germanic “old” might belong here through “grown tall”.^(de Vaan 2008) He reconstructs [[itc-pro|*altos|alt=*alto-]] and compares [[sga|alt|t=height, bank]] and [[cy|allt|t=hillside]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Some words are calques: the phrase for high treason follows English, [[altoforno]] follows [[m|fr|haut fourneau]], and [[altoparlante]] follows [[m|en|loud-speaker]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record of the adjective is the ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio'', from the Marche, in the 12th century;^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) DELI dates the poem to the early 13th century and quotes its “cantando ad alta voce” (singing aloud).^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) A 12th-century Corsican document already uses the word in a place description.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''alto'' was used much more often figuratively than literally: eminent and noble, solemn, an attribute of God and of the lady of the love lyric, and also proud and haughty.^(TLIO) Dante's “Quivi sospiri, pianti e alti guai” (here sighs, laments and loud wails) shows the sense “loud”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Pier Francesco Giambullari (before 1555) uses it for “northern”, as in ''alta Italia''.^(DELI 1999) Annibal Caro (about 1556) used ''alto'' for “tipsy”, the sense later taken by ''alticcio'' (1691).^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In music, ''alto'' (1523) was the voice between the tenor and the soprano, from the Medieval Latin name of that part.^(DIFIT)^(LEI) The musical term spread across Europe: English ''alto'' is recorded in 1784, first for a man's high voice.^(DIFIT)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century – The ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio'' has ''alto''.^(TLIO)

+ * About 1274 – GRADIT's date for the word.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1523 – ''Alto'' is recorded as a musical voice.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1555 – Giambullari uses it for “northern”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1556 – Annibal Caro uses it for “tipsy”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1691 – ''Alticcio'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1784 – English ''alto'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|tall]], [[m|en|high]], above the average height: ''Mio fratello è più alto di me.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a given height: ''un muro alto due metri''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Situated high up; of a region, at a higher altitude; of a river, near its source, ''alta Italia'', northern Italy.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|deep]], of water: ''Attento ai bambini, vicino al molo il lago è alto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Thick; of cloth, wide.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Of a voice or sound, [[m|en|loud]] or high-pitched.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # High in rank or degree, high in value: ''alta società'', ''febbre alta''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Noble, lofty.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # Of a historical period, early: ''alto Medioevo''; of a movable feast, late.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The top, the upper part: ''in alto'', up, upwards.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[altezza]]

+ * [[altezzoso]]

+ * [[altitudine]]

+ * [[altura]]

+ * [[alticcio]]

+ * [[altana]]

+ * [[altero]]

+ * [[alterigia]]

+ * [[altopiano]]

+ * [[altoparlante]]

+ * [[altoforno]]

+ * [[altolocato]]

+ * [[contralto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[altisonante]]

+ * [[alzare]]

+ * [[la|altus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The comparative is ''più alto'' or ''superiore'', the superlative ''altissimo'' or ''supremo''.^(Zingarelli 2010) ''Essere in alto mare'' means “to be far from a solution”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) A separate, now rare ''alto'' is the military order to halt, from [[gmh|halt|t=stop]]: the TLIO first records it in Giannozzo Sacchetti in 1379, and it survives in ''fare alto'' “to halt” and ''altolà''; it has been replaced by ''alt''.^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}