alt
German, adjective
alt is spelled A-L-T (3 letters) and appears 145 times per million words in written German, the 604th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Alt is a German adjective meaning “old” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Alt is a different word: “alto (musical voice; person or instrument that performs the alto part)”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “vor langer Zeit gemacht, geschehen oder gewesen”.
What does alt mean in English?
adjective
- 1
old
Wie alt bist du?
- 2
ancient
- 3
elderly (inflected in the comparative)
ältere Menschen
noun
- 1
masculinealto (musical voice; person or instrument that performs the alto part)
noun
- 1
neuterclipping of Altbier, a type of beer originating from the Rhineland region in Germany
prefix
- 1
old
- 2
ancient
- 3
former
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. vor langer Zeit gemacht, geschehen oder gewesen 2. von hohem Alter 3. nicht mehr im Amt
noun: 1. Stimmlage, im Gesang die tiefe Frauenstimme oder Knabenstimme 2. eine Sängerin oder ein Sänger der Stimmlage [1]
noun: 1. ein dunkles obergäriges Bier; Kurzform für Altbier
abbreviation: 1. Abkürzung für Alternate als Beschriftung der Alt-Taste auf der Computertastatur
abbreviation: 1. Abkürzung für Alternative
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of alt
- alter masculine nominative singular
- älter comparative
- am ältesten superlative
- alte feminine nominative singular
- altes neuter nominative singular
- alten genitive masculine singular
- altem dative masculine singular
- der alte definite includes-article masculine
- die alte definite feminine includes-article
- das alte definite includes-article neuter
- die alten definite includes-article nominative
- des alten definite genitive includes-article
- der alten definite feminine genitive
- dem alten dative definite includes-article
- Alte nominative plural
- Alts genitive singular
- Alten dative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to alt
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is alt in German?
alt appears 145 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).