alt

• Rhymes: -ɔːlt

From Latin altus.

alt (uncountable)

1. (music) High pitch, of a voice or instrument; especially, the octave above the top line of the treble stave. [from 16th c.]
   • 1762, George Colman, The Musical Lady:

     Sop[hy] Moderato! moderato! Madam. Your Ladyship's absolutely in alt. / L[ady] Scr[ape] In alt! Madam? / Sop[hy] Yes, in alt- Give me leave to tell your Ladyship, that you have raised your voice a full octave higher since you came into the room.

   • 1794, Mrs. Bennett (Agnes Maria), Ellen, Countess of Castle Howel: A Novel, volume 1:

     The duet was in alt; one stormed, the other half crying, half scolding, made up in volubility what her aunt possessed in authority, and it was not 'till Lady Meredith had twice raised her mild voice, either party could be silenced.

   • 1857, Anne Manning, Helen and Olga: a Russian tale, page 194:

     And he began, — "Poor insect! born to flutter and to die;" — falling into the second, directly Helen took the first, till he got down to such unreasonable bass that he suddenly gave a shriek in alt that made Olga stop her ears.

2. (now archaic) A state of excitement, a heightened emotional condition. [from 18th c.]
   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, The History of Clarissa Harlowe: In a Series of Letters:

     I was, however, glad at my heart, that Mrs. Moore came up so seasonably with notice, that dinner was ready. The fair fugitive was all in alt. She had the game in her own hands; and by giving me so good an excuse for withdrawing, I had time to strengthen myself; the Captain had time to come; and the Lady to cool.

   • c. 1875, Charles James Lever, The Dodd Family Abroad:

     "Not," added she, as her eyes glittered with anger, and she sidled near the door for an exit—" not but, in the estimation of others, you may be quite an Adonis—a young gentleman of wit and fashion —a beau of the first water; I have no doubt Mary Jane thinks so— you old wretch!" This, in alt, and a bang of the door that brought down an oil picture that hung over it, closed the scene.

   • 1891, Douglas William Jerrold, Tales: now first collected, page 113:

     He had no wish to pry or listen; but if people would talk in alt, whilst he moved, like a mole, about his business, family matters would cleave the ear which, however it tried, could not be deaf.

   • 2011, Jo Beverly, The Marrying Maid‎, page 50:

     That lady was in alt at Loxsleigh's high station and had spent the morning making inquiries of her friends, which also allowed her to spread the word about her interesting new acquaintance.

Abbreviations.

alt (not comparable)

1. Abbreviation of alternate.
2. Abbreviation of alternative., especially as a cultural phenomenon seen as being outside the mainstream of its genre.

   alt-rock, alt-country, alt-right, alt medicine

   • For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:alt.

alt (plural alts)

1. Abbreviation of altitude.
2. (Internet, gaming) An alternate or secondary character.
   • 1996, "Jonobie D. Baker", Survey of MUSHers. (on newsgroup rec.games.mud.tiny)

     Of these alts, how many of them are a gender other than your own?

   • 2000, "KaVir", Code Bases - why release buggy crap? (on newsgroup alt.mud)

     Yes, I have many alts, and no, none of the others have any unusual capitalisation.

• ATL, Atl., LAT, LTA, Lat., TLA, Tal, lat, lat.

From Old Occitan, from Latin altus, ultimately of Proto-Indo-European origin.

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈalt/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /ˈal/
• Rhymes: -alt

alt (feminine alta, masculine plural alts, feminine plural altes)

1. high

   Antonym: baix

2. tall

   Antonym: baix

• altament
• altària
• altesa

• alçar
• altitud

• “alt” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “alt” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “alt” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “alt” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Old High German ald, northern variant of alt. The variation between the stems alt and aal is due to the development -ald- → -āl-, which occurred only in open syllables.

• IPA^(key): /alt/

alt (masculine aale, feminine aal, comparative aaler or ääler or älder, superlative aalste or äälste or ältste)

1. (most dialects) old

   Von aale Löck ka’ mer noch jet liehre.

   There’s something to be learnt from old people.

   Dat alt Huus möt mer ens renoviere.

   That old house should be renovated sometime.

• The commoner comparation forms were originally aaler, et aalste. Today, those with umlaut are preferred due to influence of German älter, am ältesten.

• Eldere

From Middle High German alt, from Old High German alt, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz. Cognate with German alt, Dutch oud, English old, Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹𐍃 (alþeis).

alt (comparative éltor, superlative dar éltorste)

1. (most dialects) old, elderly

   an alta brau ― an elderly lady

   an altar mann ― an old man

   an altes baip ― an elderly wife

   an altes ménle ― a little old man

   alte lòite ― elderly people

   De belt ist alt. ― The world is old.

• “alt” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo
• “alt” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

From Proto-Germanic *aldaz.

alt

1. old
   • 1562, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq:

     Alt. Senex.

alt m

1. alto

Borrowed from German Alt, ultimately from Latin altus. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

• IPA^(key): /ɑlt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: alt
• Rhymes: -ɑlt

alt m (plural alten, diminutive altje n)

1. alto (musical part)
2. alto (person or instrument)

The word alt is feminine when it's used to indicate a woman singing or playing the alto part.

• altsleutel
• altstem
• altviool

• lat, tal

From Old Norse allr.

• IPA^(key): [al̥t]

alt n (masculine allur, feminine øll)

1. all

alt

1. all

From Latin altus.

alt

1. high

• bas

• alçâ
• altece

alt m (plural alts)

1. top, summit

From Old High German alt, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz, from Proto-Indo-European *altós, *h₂eltós, from *h₂el- (“grow, nourish”). Compare Dutch oud, Low German old, West Frisian âld, English old.

• IPA^(key): /alt/, [ʔalt]

• Audio

  (file)

alt (comparative älter, superlative am ältesten)

1. old

   Wie alt bist du?

   How old are you?

• a. St.
• Alter m (“old one; mate”), Alte f
• Alter n (“age”)
• altern
• ältlich
• veralten

• alt in Duden online

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒlt]

alt (plural altok)

1. alto (voice)

• szoprán

From Proto-Uralic *ëla, whence Estonian all and Hungarian alatt (the ablative singular of ala-). Akin to Finnish alta.

alt

1. from under

• IPA^(key): /al̪ˠt̪ˠ/

From Old Irish alt (“joint, articulation”), from Proto-Celtic *ɸaltom (“joint”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to fold”). Cognate with Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌻𐌸𐌰𐌽 (falþan, “to fold”) and Ancient Greek πέπλος (péplos, “woven cloth”). The sense ‘article’ is a semantic loan from Latin articulus, itself a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ἄρθρον (árthron).

alt m (genitive singular ailt, nominative plural ailt)

1. (carpentry) joint; juncture
2. (anatomy) joint, knuckle
   • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, vol. II, p. 8:

     tā alt m aurdōǵ ĺūntə.

     conventional orthography:

     Tá alt m’ordóige leonta.

     The joint/knuckle of my thumb is sprained.

3. knot (in wood)

   Synonyms: cranra, dual

4. hillock
5. bit (of land, tobacco, etc.)
6. stumpy person
7. paragraph; section (of act, etc.)
8. (grammar, parts of speech, publishing) article; clause

alt (present analytic altann, future analytic altfaidh, verbal noun altadh, past participle alta)

1. (transitive) articulate, joint

Borrowed from Italian alto.

alt m (genitive singular ailt, nominative plural ailt)

1. (music) alto

• altach

alt f (genitive singular ailte, nominative plural altanna)

1. Alternative form of ailt (“steep-sided glen; ravine”)

• “1 alt (‘joint, articulation’)” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
• “2 alt, allt (‘height, cliff’)” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
• “alt” in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, Irish Texts Society, 1st ed., 1904, by Patrick S. Dinneen, page 24.
• "alt" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Entries containing “alt” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “alt” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.
• “alt” at the Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926 of the Royal Irish Academy.

Borrowed from German halt.

• IPA^(key): /alt/

alt

1. stop!

• IPA^(key): /alt/, [ɑlt]

alt

1. sometimes

alt

1. already

From Latin altus, via Italian alto; compare with German Alt.

alt m (definite singular alten, indefinite plural alter, definite plural altene)

1. (music) alto; contralto

alt

1. neuter singular of all

alt

1. everything, all, anything

   alt kan skje ― anything can happen

• altetende
• fremfor alt, framfor alt

• “alt” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /ɑlt/

alt

1. already

From Latin altus, via Italian alto; compare with German Alt.

alt m (definite singular alten, indefinite plural altar, definite plural altane)

1. (music) alto; contralto

alt

1. neuter singular of all

alt

1. everything, all, anything

   alt kan skje ― anything can happen

• “alt” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown-up”), from Proto-Indo-European *altós, *h₂eltós, from *h₂el- (“grow, nourish”).

alt

1. old

• Middle Dutch: out
  • Dutch: oud
    • Afrikaans: oud
  • Limburgish: aad

• “alt”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

• ald (northern)

From Proto-Germanic *aldaz, whence also Old English ald. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *altós, *h₂eltós, from *h₂el- (“grow, nourish”). Compare Old Frisian and Old Saxon ald, Old English eald, ald and Old Dutch alt.

• IPA^(key): /alt/

alt

1. old

   mit thên altôn ― with the elders

• Middle High German: alt
  • Alemannic German:

    Italian Walser: altu, oalt, oalts, olt, àltà

  • Bavarian:

    Apeltonerisch: old

    Cimbrian: alt

    Mòcheno: òlt

    Udinese: olt, òlt

  • Central Franconian: alt
  • German: alt
  • Luxembourgish: al
  • Rhine Franconian:

    Pennsylvania German: alt

  • Vilamovian: aołd
  • Yiddish: אַלט‎ (alt)

• Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer

·alt

1. third-person singular preterite active conjunct of ailid
2. singular preterite passive conjunct of ailid

Compare German alt, Dutch oud, English old.

alt (comparative elder, superlative eltscht)

1. old

From Latin alter, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élteros.

• IPA^(key): /alt/

alt m or n (feminine singular altă, masculine plural alți, feminine and neuter plural alte)

1. other

• The genitive and dative forms can also be formed like those of a regular adjective, using forms of un: unui alt, unei alte, unor alți, unor alte.

From Old Irish alt (“joint, articulation”), from Proto-Celtic *ɸaltom (“joint”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to fold”). Cognate with Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌻𐌸𐌰𐌽 (falþan, “to fold”) and Ancient Greek πέπλος (péplos, “woven cloth”).

alt m (genitive singular uilt, plural altan)

1. joint
2. (grammar) article

• alt-aiseig (“linkspan”)
• alt cinnteach
• alt neo-chinnteach

alt m (Cyrillic spelling алт)

1. (music) an alto

• altovi

• IPA^(key): [aɫt]
• Hyphenation: alt

alt (definite accusative altı, plural altlar)

1. bottom
2. under

• üst

• olt
• out (Hopgarten)

Ultimately from Old High German alt.

alt

1. old