Editing Soprano (section)

== Etymology ==
The word "soprano" comes from the Italian word ''[[wikt:sopra|sopra]]'' (above, over, on top of),<ref name="britannica">[http://www.britannica.com/art/soprano "Soprano"], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''</ref> as the soprano is the highest pitch human voice, often given to the leading female roles in operas.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Opera 101 |url=http://www.theopera101.com/operaabc/voices/ |access-date=21 April 2016}}</ref> "Soprano" refers mainly to women, but it can also be applied to men; "[[sopranist]]" is the term for a male [[countertenor]] able to sing in the soprano vocal range,<ref name="McKinney">{{cite book |title=The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults |last=McKinney |first=James |year=1994 |publisher=Genovex Music Group |isbn=978-1-56593-940-0}}</ref> while a [[castrato]] is the term for a castrated male singer, typical of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries,<ref name="britannica" /> and a [[treble voice|treble]] is a [[boy soprano]], whether they finished puberty or are still a child, as long as they are still able to sing in that range.<ref name="britannica" />

The term "soprano" is also based on the Latin word ''[[wikt:superior#Latin|superius]]'' which, like soprano, referred to the highest pitch vocal range of all human voice types.<ref name="britannica" /> The word ''superius'' was especially used in choral and other multi-part vocal music between the 13th and 16th centuries.<ref name="britannica"/>