Definitions for "Castrato"
Keywords:  soprano, singer, alto, boyhood, puberty
A male person castrated for the purpose of improving his voice for singing; an artificial, or male, soprano.
A male singer castrated during boyhood to preserve his soprano or alto vocal register. Castratos played a prominent role in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century opera.
(cah-STRAH-toe) A male singer whose career as a soprano has been extended beyond puberty by surgical means. The practice of castrating boys so as to provide adult sopranos and contraltos was justified by the Roman Catholic Church interpreting an injunction of St. Paul to the effect that women should keep silent in church. Castrati were extremely popular in opera’s early history, especially in countries where women were not allowed to perform in public.
Keywords:  muzak, man, see
n. See Muzak-Man.