Definition of "basso" [bas•so]

• A bass singer, especially an operatic bass. (noun)
• An instrumental part written for a bass instrument. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Mr. LISLEVAND: Well, this is all music based on what we call basso spinato (ph), obstinate (ph) basses."
• "Ludovico Grossi, called Viadana from the place of his birth, seems to have been the first to use the term basso continuo and on the authority of Prætorius and other writers was long credited with the invention of the thing itself."
• "These types of roles, and their singers, were eventually called basso buffo, and few composers were better at writing these parts than Donizetti also provided a generous number of hilarious examples."