mezzo-soprano

[ met-soh-suh-pran-oh, -prah-noh, med-zoh-, mez-oh- ]

noun

, plural mez·zo-so·pran·os, mez·zo-so·pran·i [met, -soh-s, uh, -, pran, -ee, -, prah, -nee, med, -zoh-, mez, -oh-].

1. a voice or voice part intermediate in compass between soprano and contralto.
2. a person having such a voice.

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or suitable to a mezzo-soprano.

mezzo-soprano

noun

1. a female voice intermediate between a soprano and contralto and having a range from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above it Sometimes shortened tomezzo
2. a singer with such a voice

mezzo soprano

1. A range of the female singing voice lower than soprano and higher than alto .

Word History and Origins

Origin of mezzo-soprano¹

Borrowed into English from Italian around 1745–55

Example Sentences

Three countertenors have been cast, including as Julius Caesar, a vocally demanding role often given to a mezzo-soprano.

From New York Times

The song builds and builds with an electric guitar that matches the singer's mezzo-soprano and four-octave vocals that merge into the heavy country production backed by drums and banjos.

From Salon

The mezzo-soprano Mildred Miller Posvar sang opera’s so-called trouser roles so many times that one of her daughters once told a friend, “My mommy is a boy.”

From New York Times

Rachvelishvili, the Georgian mezzo-soprano, had spent the previous decade crisscrossing the world, blazing through some of the most difficult parts in opera.

From New York Times

The young mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo has a wide grin, haunted eyes and a mellow, confident voice that flashes with lean anxiety.

From New York Times