What does "countertenor" mean?

An adult male singer who uses head tone or falsetto to sing far higher than the typical male vocal range.

What is a synonym for "countertenor"?

Common synonyms include: alto, alto, baritone, bass, basso, canary.

Countertenor

noun

noun ·4 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
An adult male singer who uses head tone or falsetto to sing far higher than the typical male vocal range.
2
the highest adult male singing voice wordnet
3
A male singing voice far higher than the typical male vocal range.
"The term countertenor first appeared in England during the mid 17th century. However, the style of singing originated in Elizabethan cathedral choirs, eventually falling out of favour during the Romantic period."
4
a male singer with a voice above that of a tenor wordnet
5
A part or section performing a countermelody against the tenor or main part. historical

Adjective

1
of or being the highest male voice; having a range above that of tenor wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

alto alto baritone bass basso canary

Example

More examples

"The term countertenor first appeared in England during the mid 17th century. However, the style of singing originated in Elizabethan cathedral choirs, eventually falling out of favour during the Romantic period."

Etymology

From Latin contrātenor. By surface analysis, counter- + tenor.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.