What does castrato mean?
A castrato (plural: castrati) was a male singer who had been castrated before puberty, a procedure that prevented the voice from breaking and allowed him to retain — and even extend — a high vocal range into adulthood. Castrati flourished chiefly in Italy between roughly the mid-sixteenth century and the late nineteenth century, reaching their artistic peak in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century opera seria, where composers such as Handel and Mozart wrote demanding heroic roles specifically for them. Famous performers like Farinelli achieved extraordinary fame and wealth. The practice was abolished by the Italian government in 1870, and the last castrato known to have performed publicly, Alessandro Moreschi, died in 1922, leaving behind a handful of phonograph recordings that preserve something close to the original sound. Today the word survives mainly as a music-historical term; its parts are usually sung by countertenors, sopranos, or mezzo-sopranos.
nounA male singer castrated before puberty in order to preserve a high vocal range, especially one employed in Italian opera of the 17th and 18th centuries. By extension, the term can denote the high soprano or alto vocal register such singers produced.
- A male singer who was castrated before puberty to preserve a high-pitched voice, particularly those who performed heroic male roles in Italian Baroque opera.
- The high vocal register or timbre associated with such singers, sometimes used loosely to describe similar voices.
"The opera company's revival featured a countertenor standing in for the castrato role that Handel originally wrote."
"Farinelli was the most celebrated castrato of the eighteenth century, commanding fees that dwarfed those of any other performer."
"Modern productions of Baroque opera typically assign castrato parts to countertenors or mezzo-sopranos."
Because the word was adopted from Italian, the standard plural in English follows the Italian pattern: castrati. Using "castratos" is rare and generally considered incorrect in musical or scholarly contexts.
"The conservatory's archive preserves letters written by several of the most famous castrati of the eighteenth century."
The last surviving castrato, Alessandro Moreschi, died in 1922 — and his recordings are the only ones we will ever have of this lost art form.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of castrato
Castrato is an Italian word meaning 'castrated,' formed as the past participle of the verb castrare, which derives from Latin castrare ('to castrate, prune, or cut'). The same Latin root underlies English words like castrate, castration, and the adjective castigate (via Latin castigare). The term entered English usage during the eighteenth-century vogue for Italian opera, when these singers were at the height of their fame.
Related word forms
How castrato is actually used
The word is borrowed directly from Italian and retains its Italian plural "castrati" in scholarly writing about music history. The term carries strong historical connotations tied to a practice now universally condemned, so it should be handled with care when discussing living people — it is never appropriate as a casual insult. In musicological contexts it is a neutral technical term; outside them it can sound jarring or archaic.
Easily confused with castrato
A contralto is the lowest female singing voice; a castrato was a male singer surgically altered to sing in a high female-like range.