The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sotto voce \Sot`to vo"ce\ [It.]
(Mus.) With a restrained voice or moderate force; in an undertone.
Spoken low or in an undertone.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
a. 1 (context of speech of a voice etc English) In soft tones; quiet. 2 (context music English) soft (qualifier: can be used of instruments other than the voice, such as pianos). adv. 1 (context of speech of a voice etc English) (Speaking) quietly. 2 (context music English) (spoken ''or played'') softly (qualifier: can be used of instruments other than the voice, such as pianos). n. (context music English) A direction in a score that a passage in a piece should be played softly (or sung 'under the voice', when applied to vocal music).
WordNet
adv. in an undertone; "he uttered a curse sotto voce" [syn: in a low voice]
Wikipedia
Sotto voce (; , literally "under voice") means intentionally lowering the volume of one's voice for emphasis. The speaker gives the impression of uttering involuntarily a truth which may surprise, shock, or offend. Galileo Galilei's (probably apocryphal) utterance "Eppur si muove" ("Nonetheless, [the Earth] does move"), spoken after recanting his heliocentric theory, is an example of sotto voce utterance.
In music, sotto voce (; Italian for "under voice") is a dramatic lowering of the vocal or instrumental volume — not necessarily pianissimo, but a definitely hushed tonal quality. An example of sotto voce occurs in the Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor, in which the singers lower their volume for emphasis. A tonal example of "sotto voce" can be found at the beginning of Movement III of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 15, Op. 132, in which the strings play with a hushed quality before later playing with renewed strength.
Usage examples of "sotto voce".
Miles would now have to speak across Illyan to converse with her, no sotto voce remarks possible.
The women in the audience made sotto voce comments and the men made rather loud ones.
She poured a cup, generous with the sugar, and drank it while she put together a stew of lamb and potatoes and onions, following directions Garth had given her, sotto voce, earlier in the day.