octavo
Americannoun
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a book size of about 6 × 9 inches (16 × 23 centimeters), determined by printing on sheets folded to form 8 leaves or 16 pages. 8vo, 8°
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a book of this size.
adjective
noun
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Often written: 8vo. 8°. Also called: eightvo. a book size resulting from folding a sheet of paper of a specified size to form eight leaves
demi-octavo
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a book of this size
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(formerly) a size of cut paper 8 inches by 5 inches (20.3 cm by 12.7 cm)
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of octavo
First recorded in 1575–85; short for New Latin in octāvō “in an eighth (of a sheet)”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Who, indeed, but a woman,” wrote one reviewer, “could have ventured, with the smallest prospect of success, to fill three octavo volumes with the history of a woman’s heart?”
From The Guardian ● Oct. 8, 2016
They would publish two octavo volumes at a time, each about 200 pages long.
From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2016
A collector acquires a clothbound octavo volume bearing the title "Holy Writ."
From Time Magazine Archive
However, demand was fully re-established in the decade 1600-1609, and not just for the new more complex commentaries such as that of Clavius, published in fat quartos, but also for cheap octavo editions.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
His works, which are of high Calvinistic principles, are very numerous, amounting to seven folio, twenty quarto, and thirty octavo volumes.
From A Biographical Sketch of some of the Most Eminent Individuals which the Principality of Wales has produced since the Reformation by Williams, Robert
Professor of Physiology in the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. Two royal octavos of about 600 pages each, illustrated.
From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by Eyre, J. W. H. (John William Henry)
I'll bespeak a quotation for binding and lettering a thousand octavos in paste grain, on behalf of some convenient firm of publishers.
From The Red Triangle Being Some Further Chronicles of Martin Hewitt, Investigator by Morrison, Arthur
Pope's prohibition of Watson's work, coupled with his own publication of the octavos, is fresh evidence of the insincerity of his professed dissatisfaction with the P. T. selection.
From The Works of Alexander Pope, Volume 1 New Edition by Pope, Alexander
Its form is a case of the theory: the book is an undeniable duodecimo, but the size of its paper gives it the look of not the smallest of octavos.
From A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I by Smith, David Eugene
Two octavos of about 600 pages each; nearly 900 illustrations, including 49 colored and half-tone plates.
From Essentials of Diseases of the Skin Including the Syphilodermata Arranged in the Form of Questions and Answers Prepared Especially for Students of Medicine by Stelwagon, Henry Weightman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
