octave

American  

[ok-tiv, -tayv] / ˈɒk tɪv, -teɪv /

noun

• octaves
  plural

1. Music.

   1. a tone on the eighth degree from a given tone.

   2. the interval encompassed by such tones.

   3. the harmonic combination of such tones.

   4. a series of tones, or of keys of an instrument, extending through this interval.

2. a pipe-organ stop whose pipes give tones an octave above the normal pitch of the keys used.

3. a series or group of eight.

4. Also called octet. Prosody.

   1. a group of eight lines of verse, especially the first eight lines of a sonnet in the Italian form.

   2. a stanza of eight lines.

5. the eighth of a series.

6. Ecclesiastical.

   1. the eighth day from a feast day, counting the feast day as the first.

   2. the period of eight days beginning with a feast day.

7. one eighth of a pipe of wine.

8. Fencing. the eighth of eight defensive positions.

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adjective

1. pitched an octave higher.

octave British  

/ ˈɒktɪv /

noun

1. 1. the interval between two musical notes one of which has twice the pitch of the other and lies eight notes away from it counting inclusively along the diatonic scale

   2. one of these two notes, esp the one of higher pitch

   3. ( as modifier ) See also perfect diminished interval

      an octave leap

2. prosody a rhythmic group of eight lines of verse

3. 1. a feast day and the seven days following

   2. the final day of this period

4. the eighth of eight basic positions in fencing

5. any set or series of eight

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adjective

1. consisting of eight parts

octave Cultural  

1. An interval between musical notes in which the higher note is six whole tones, or twelve half tones, above the lower. From the standpoint of physics, the higher note has twice the frequency of the lower. Notes that are an octave apart, or a whole number of octaves apart, sound in some ways like the same note and have the same letter for their names.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• octaval
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• octaves
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of octave

1300–50; Middle English < Latin octāva eighth part, noun use of feminine of octāvus, equivalent to oct- oct- + -āvus adj. suffix

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Explanation

An octave is a musical interval of eight notes. Sing from “do” to “do” — on key — and you will have an octave. Like octagon and octopus, the key to an octave is “eight.” An octave may be the entire eight-note scale, or just the bottom and top notes, like C and C. Octave can also refer to an eight-line group in an Italian sonnet, or an eight-day festival; in fact, the word comes from the Latin expression octava dies, meaning “eighth day” — as in the eighth festival day after a feast. The ave in octave is usually pronounced “iv.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

octave octaves

The primary theme repeats a climbing four-note figure three times before a sudden plunge of a full octave.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

The Hammond B3 swells on the verse’s first pass, sticking close to the song’s melody, but on the second, it jumps an octave in an improvisation that nearly scorches the ear.

From Salon ● May 15, 2026

It became a defining song for the genre, marrying Thomas's gospel-trained, four octave vocals to a pulsing electronic beat.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2024

In the chorus, she jumps the octave to scream the song’s title — it’s haunting and unforgiving.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2024

Each of these modes can easily be found by playing its one octave range, or ambitus, on the "white key" notes on a piano.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Ms. O’Hara, best known for her crystalline singing in musical revivals, proves to have a similarly wide range of octaves when it comes to physical comedy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026

For what it’s worth, though, they did find that the waves corresponded to the note of B-flat, about 57 octaves below the middle C note on a piano.

From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2025

Now that she had it, she had to learn to play the guitar and sing … in a voice a few octaves higher than her usual.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2025

This excitation triggers the generation of harmonic electronic states that give rise to single photons -- similar to how musical harmonics produce notes across multiple octaves.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2024

Two notes that are exactly the same pitch, for example, have a frequency ratio of 1:1, and octaves, as we have already seen, are 2:1.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

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