The story
Contraction of contratenor alto, from Latin contratenor altus.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
contralto
Today it means: The lowest female voice or voice part, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. The terms contralto and alto refer to the same musical pitch range, but among singers, the term contralto is reserved for female singers; the equivalent male form is counter-tenor. Originally the contratenor altus was a high countermelody sung against the tenor or main melody. Full definition →