octave

oc·tave

noun \ˈäk-tiv, -təv, -ˌtāv\

Definition of OCTAVE

1

: an 8-day period of observances beginning with a festival day

2

a : a stanza of eight lines : ottava rima b : the first eight lines of an Italian sonnet

3

a : a musical interval embracing eight diatonic degrees b : a tone or note at this interval c : the harmonic combination of two tones an octave apart d : the whole series of notes, tones, or digitals comprised within this interval and forming the unit of the modern scale e : an organ stop giving tones an octave above those corresponding to the keys

4

: the interval between two frequencies (as in an electromagnetic spectrum) having a ratio of 2 to 1

5

: a group of eight

Examples of OCTAVE

1. He sang the song an octave lower.

Origin of OCTAVE

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin octava, from Latin, feminine of octavus eighth, from octo eight — more at eight

First Known Use: 14th century

Rhymes with OCTAVE

airwave, behave, brain wave, cold wave, concave, conclave, deprave, dissave, drawshave, enclave, engrave, enslave, exclave, ground wave, heat wave, margrave, new wave, outbrave, Palgrave, palsgrave, shock wave, shortwave, sine wave, sky wave, sound wave, spokeshave, S wave, wage slave, white slave, Wind Cave