octet
or oc·tette
[ok-tet]
- a company of eight singers or musicians.
- a musical composition for eight voices or instruments.
- Prosody. octave(def 4).
- any group of eight.
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Origin of octet
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for octet
Contemporary Examples
In recent months, the Israeli press has been rife with speculation about how the octet would view a strike on Iran.
Historical Examples
The octet was finished and the first two lines of the sestet.
Orpheus in Mayfair and Other Stories and SketchesMaurice Baring
Sonata for piano, violin, and violoncello (from the Octet, Op. 103); pub.
Beethoven: A Memoir (2nd Ed.)Elliott Graeme
Felix had not completed his seventeenth year when the Octet was written.
Story-Lives of Great MusiciansFrancis Jameson Rowbotham
Octet for wind instruments, in E flat major; composed in Bonn before 1792.
Beethoven: A Memoir (2nd Ed.)Elliott Graeme
Later he wrote a new postlude, which is found among motivi for the Octet and the Trio in C minor.
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume I (of 3)Alexander Wheelock Thayer
octet
- any group of eight, esp eight singers or musicians
- a piece of music composed for such a group
- prosody another word for octave (def. 2)
- chem a group of eight electrons forming a stable shell in an atom
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Also (for senses 1, 2, 3): octette
Word Origin
C19: from Latin octo eight, on the model of duet
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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