octave

[ ok-tiv, -teyv ]

/ ˈɒk tɪv, -teɪv /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR octave ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Music.

a tone on the eighth degree from a given tone.
the interval encompassed by such tones.
the harmonic combination of such tones.
a series of tones, or of keys of an instrument, extending through this interval.

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

a series or group of eight.

Also called octet. Prosody.

a group of eight lines of verse, especially the first eight lines of a sonnet in the Italian form.Compare sestet(def 1).
a stanza of eight lines.

the eighth of a series.

Ecclesiastical.

the eighth day from a feast day, counting the feast day as the first.
the period of eight days beginning with a feast day.

one eighth of a pipe of wine.

Fencing. the eighth of eight defensive positions.

adjective

pitched an octave higher.

RELATED WORDS

note, eight, interval, tone, scale

Nearby words

octarchy, octaroon, octastyle, octateuch, octavalent, octave, octave coupler, octavia, octavian, octavius, octavo

Origin of octave

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

Related forms

oc·ta·val

[ok-tey-vuh l, ok-tuh-] /ɒkˈteɪ vəl, ˈɒk tə-/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for octave

In light we have one octave of visible light, one octave above the visible range, and two octaves below the visible range.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 467, December 13, 1884|Various
The deep voice almost leaped an octave in a sudden shrill of apprehension.
A Man to His Mate|J. Allan Dunn
That he was later than Aristoxenus is made probable by his way of describing the Mixo-lydian octave, viz.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music|David Binning Monro
He gives a series of fourths and of fifths, occasionally for two voices, occasionally with the octave added.
A Popular History of the Art of Music|W. S. B. Mathews

The suggestion did not offer sufficient attraction to Octave.
Trevlyn Hold|Mrs. Henry Wood

British Dictionary definitions for octave

octave

/ (ˈɒktɪv) /

noun

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
one of these two notes, esp the one of higher pitch
(as modifier)an octave leap See also perfect (def. 9), diminished (def. 2), interval (def. 5)

prosody a rhythmic group of eight lines of verse

(ˈɒkteɪv)

a feast day and the seven days following
the final day of this period

the eighth of eight basic positions in fencing

any set or series of eight

adjective

consisting of eight parts

Word Origin for octave

C14: (originally: eighth day) via Old French from Medieval Latin octāva diēs eighth day (after a festival), from Latin octo eight

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture definitions for octave

octave

[ (ok-tiv) ]

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.