the lowest female voice or voice part, intermediate between soprano and tenor.
2.
the alto, or highest male voice or voice part.
3.
a singer with a contralto voice.
adjective
4.
pertaining to the contralto voice or its compass.
Origin
1720-30; < Italian, equivalent to contr(a) contra-2 + altoalto
Examples from the web for contralto
Her voice is a muscular contralto that she uses the way a jazz singer does, creating hypnotic musical lines.
In art it is an oversized violin with a tubby, whiskey-contralto voice.
Her accent is strongly foreign and her voice is a contralto.
It is rare to find a contralto singer, and true contralto roles are few and far between.
He had appeared professionally as a singer and depending on location and dress sang either baritone or contralto.
British Dictionary definitions for contralto
contralto
/kənˈtræltəʊ; -ˈtrɑːl-/
noun (pl) -tos, -ti (-tɪ)
1.
the lowest female voice, usually having a range of approximately from F a fifth below middle C to D a ninth above it In the context of a choir often shortened to alto
2.
a singer with such a voice
adjective
3.
of or denoting a contralto: the contralto part
Word Origin
C18: from Italian; see contra-, alto
Word Origin and History for contralto
n.
"lowest female voice," 1730, from Italian contralto; see contra- "against, opposite" + alto. The part next above the alto.
contralto in Culture
contralto [(kuhn-tral-toh)]
The lowest range of the female singing voice; alto.