castrato
cas·tra·to/kæsˈtɹɑː.təʊ/noun, adjective
castrato is spelled C-A-S-T-R-A-T-O: 8 letters and 3 syllables (cas·tra·to). It appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 138,319th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, castrato means “A male who has been castrated, especially a male whose testicles have been removed before puberty in order to retain his boyish voice” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of castrato is castratos or castrati.
How many letters and syllables are in castrato?
| Letters | 8: C-A-S-T-R-A-T-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: cas·tra·to |
| In writing | about once in every 21 million words; the 138,319th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is castrato?
Castrato appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 138,319th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce castrato?
- /kæsˈtɹɑː.təʊ/
Castrato has 3 syllables, split cas·tra·to in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-castrato.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with castrato?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as castrato.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: crostata.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of castrato
- castratos plural
- castrati plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does castrato mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A male who has been castrated, especially a male whose testicles have been removed before puberty in order to retain his boyish voice.
- 2
A male soprano or alto voice produced by castration of the treble singer before puberty, intended to conserve his voice; the singer.
adjective
- 1
Castrated; especially castrated prepubescently.
- 2
Having, using or containing the voice of a castrato (noun).
- 3
Originally composed for a castrato.
Nowadays, either women or countertenors take the castrato roles.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Castrato in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does castrato come from?
From Italian castrato, from Latin castrō (“to castrate”), likely from caedō (“to cut”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).