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alto

Spanish, noun/ˈalto/

alto is spelled A-L-T-O (4 letters) and appears 195 times per million words in written Spanish, the 416th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Alto is a Spanish masculine noun meaning “height (in measurements)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Altura”.

What does alto mean in English?

adjective

  1. 1

    tall

    Esas chicas son altas.

  2. 2

    high

    Es un número alto.

  3. 3

    loud

    En voz alta.

  4. 4

    upper, top

  5. 5

    senior (rank)

noun

  1. 1

    masculineheight (in measurements)

adverb

  1. 1

    up, high, highly

  2. 2

    loudly

    gritar alto

noun

  1. 1

    masculinestop, halt

  2. 2

    masculinebreak, pause, rest

  3. 3

    masculinestop (signal)

  4. 4

    masculinered light

interjection

  1. 1

    halt!; stop!

Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How Spanish dictionaries define it

adjective: 1. Levantado, elevado sobre la tierra. 2. De gran estatura o tamaño. 3. Profundo. 4. Hablando de un río o arroyo, muy crecido.

noun: 1. Altura. 2. Elevación orográfica del terreno, generalmente no superior a una montaña. 3. Cada uno de los pisos en que se divide una casa.

adverb: 1. Arriba (en lugar superior),

adverb: 1. En voz fuerte o que suene bastante.

noun: 1. Detención o parada. 2. Toque de clarín, corneta o tambor que avisa de que ha de pararse la marcha. 3. Voces e instrumentos que ejecutan la segunda voz. 4. Instrumento de madera del género del clarinete. Tiene boquilla y pabellón encorvado.

interjection: 1. Voz imperativa que se usa para detener el movimiento físico o dejar de avanzar.

The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.

Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

Forms of alto

  • alta feminine
  • altos masculine plural
  • altas feminine plural
  • altísimo superlative
  • halto alternative
  • ¡alto! canonical
  • superior comparative
  • supremo superlative

Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

How do you pronounce alto?

  • /ˈalto/
  • [ˈal̪.t̪o]
  • [ˈal̪t̪o]

Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.

English words that translate to alto

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is alto in Spanish?

alto appears 195 times per million words in written Spanish.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

What to look up after alto