altaltissimo

English

Etymology

Probably derived from Italian alto + altissimo.

Noun

altaltissimo (countable and uncountable, plural altaltissimos)

1. (rare, literary) The highest point of something; the pinnacle or apex.
   • 1855, Robert Browning, “Old Pictures in Florence”, in Men and Women, volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, page 47:

     Then one shall propose (in a speech, curt Tuscan, / Sober, expurgate, spare of an "issimo,") / Ending our half-told tale of Cambuscan, / Turning the Bell-tower's altaltissimo.

     Later corrected to "alt to altissimo".

   • 1912, W[illiam] H[enry] Williamson, The Stolen Bride, Boston, M.A.: Dana Estes & Company, page 103:

     Gordon, too, carried plenty in his hands, but principally he went for his heart's sake, and that will take a man to altaltissimo.

   • 1975, Hal Porter, The Extra, Melbourne: Thomas Nelson, →ISBN, page 87:

     Beatrice Davis's office, a mere attic above Angus and Robertson's bookshop at 89 Castlereagh Street, is at the altaltissimo of a perilous steep of strait wooden stairs.

   • 2006, Pt. Gopal Sharma, Pracharya Sewa Ram Jaipuria, Teach Yourself Numerology, New Delhi: Lotus Press, →ISBN, page 14:

     Persons born under this number always rise high in their respective professions. To achieve summum bonum, the highest altaltissimo in their profession, is their main objective.

References

• “altaltissimo, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.