Word.ws English Dictionary

counter-tenor

counter-tenor is the alternative form of countertenor.

Meaning of countertenor

Noun

countertenor (plural countertenors)

  1. An adult male singer who uses head tone or falsetto to sing far higher than the typical male vocal range.
  2. A male singing voice far higher than the typical male vocal range.
    • The term countertenor first appeared in England during the mid 17th century. However, the style of singing originated in Elizabethan cathedral choirs, eventually falling out of favour during the Romantic period.2014 August 8, Rupert Christiansen, “The truth about falsettos [print version: 12 August 2014, p. R8]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)
  3. (historical) A part or section performing a countermelody against the tenor or main part.

Forms of counter-tenor

pluralcounter-tenors

Questions about counter-tenor

What is counter-tenor the alternative form of?
Counter-tenor is the alternative form of countertenor.

Words near counter-tenor in the dictionary

  1. counter-surfed
  2. counter-surfing
  3. counter-surfs
  4. counter-tactic
  5. counter-tactics
  6. counter-tenor
  7. counter-tenors
  8. counter-terrorism
  9. counter-terrorist
  10. counter-terrorists
  11. counter-terrorize

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: counter-tenor (page history and authors); countertenor (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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