First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
octave
noun oc·tave \ˈäk-tiv, -təv, -ˌtāv\
music : the difference in sound between the first and eighth note on a musical scale
Full 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
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Origin of OCTAVE
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin octava, from Latin, feminine of octavus eighth, from octo eight — more at eight
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
OCTAVE Defined for Kids
octave
noun oc·tave \ˈäk-tiv\
Definition of OCTAVE for Kids
1
: a space of eight steps between musical notes
2
: a tone or note that is eight steps above or below another note or tone
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