Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A male singer castrated before puberty so as to retain a soprano or alto voice.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A male person emasculated during childhood for the purpose of preventing the change of voice which naturally occurs at puberty; an artificial or male soprano.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A male person castrated for the purpose of improving his voice for singing; an artificial, or male, soprano.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
male who has beencastrated , especially a male whosetesticles have been removed before puberty in order to retain his boyish voice. - noun A male
soprano oralto voice produced bycastration of the treble singer before puberty, intended to conserve his voice; the singer. - adjective literally Castrated; especially castrated
prepubescently . - adjective Having, using or containing the voice of a castrato (noun).
- adjective Originally composed for a castrato.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a male singer who was castrated before puberty and retains a soprano or alto voice
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word castrato.
Examples
-
In many ways, the castrato is the corporeal manifestation of Longinus 'theory of the sublime, in which hypsous requires a synthesis of nature and art that cannot be reduced either to capacity or to will.
Sounds Romantic: The Castrato and English Poetics Around 1800 2005
-
A male singer who has, between the approximate age of six and twelve, undergone a surgical procedure to impede the "breaking" of his voice that would normally take place during puberty, the castrato is a male soprano, soprano meaning, literally, higher.
Sounds Romantic: The Castrato and English Poetics Around 1800 2005
-
The body of the castrato is exceptional in part because of its lack — it cannot reproduce.
Sounds Romantic: The Castrato and English Poetics Around 1800 2005
-
For, the castrato is not found but made (and self made), made to be extraordinary.
Sounds Romantic: The Castrato and English Poetics Around 1800 2005
-
Such escape tactics, in which the image of the castrato is wrenched from the sound of his voice in the name of delicacy or comfort is significant both to the study of the castrato specifically and to the study of image/sound relations in romanticism more generally.
Sounds Romantic: The Castrato and English Poetics Around 1800 2005
-
She made rapid progress in music, and at the end of six months she felt sufficient confidence in herself to sign an engagement with a theatrical manager who took her to Vienna to give her a 'castrato' part in one of Metastasio's operas.
The Complete Memoirs of Jacques Casanova Giacomo Casanova 1761
-
I thought he was a 'castrato' who, as is the custom in Rome, performed all the parts of a prima donna.
The Complete Memoirs of Jacques Casanova Giacomo Casanova 1761
-
She made rapid progress in music, and at the end of six months she felt sufficient confidence in herself to sign an engagement with a theatrical manager who took her to Vienna to give her a 'castrato' part in one of Metastasio's operas.
Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 01: Childhood Giacomo Casanova 1761
-
I thought he was a 'castrato' who, as is the custom in Rome, performed all the parts of a prima donna.
Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 02: a Cleric in Naples Giacomo Casanova 1761
-
The mother presented to, me her other son, likewise very good-looking, but more manly than the 'castrato', although younger.
Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 02: a Cleric in Naples Giacomo Casanova 1761
sionnach commented on the word castrato
Have you got the balls to stand in front of an audience and be an opera superstar? Great, then let us snatch them away from you using hot water, manual manipulation, sharp scissors and copious amounts of cheap alcohol. Wow, will you hit those high notes then! Opera fans the world over will adore you, and groupies will wear medallions bearing your portrait.
If you're too young to agree to the operation, let your family do it for you. After all, there are financial rewards for those who tackle this difficult decision. They won't even have to admit to having you castrated deliberately – they can always come up with a medical alibi (a riding accident, accidental blow, animal bite).
There's no need to worry about the effects that a lack of hair and an obese, deformed body will have on your chances of having a companion for life. Great fame and fortune will always illuminate your inner beauty to others.
July 8, 2008
frogapplause commented on the word castrato
plural: castrati
April 20, 2011