octave
noun
oc·tave
| \ ˈäk-tiv
, -təv, -ˌtāv\
, -təv, -ˌtāv\
Definition of octave
1
: an 8-day period of observances beginning with a festival day
2a
: a stanza of eight lines : ottava rima
b
: the first eight lines of an Italian sonnet
3a
: 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 in a Sentence
He sang the song an octave lower.
Recent Examples on the Web
That could be seen at the Proms: the double octaves were executed with agility, her fingers appearing fleetingly on the keys yet leaving a lasting impression. — E.h., The Economist, "The wondrous power of Martha Argerich," 22 Aug. 2019 The world began taking notice when Carey uploaded her own take on the #bottlecapchallenge last week, where Carey didn’t kick off the cap in the traditional sense, but rather popped it off using nothing but a note in her signature high octave. — Christian Allaire, Vogue, "FaceApp? Mariah Carey Doesn’t Know Her," 18 July 2019 Roughly 2,000 little girls reached new octaves as JoJo Siwa took the stage. — Jamie Lauren Keiles, Time, "'What Do People Want Me to Do? Wear Black Every Day?': How Child Star JoJo Siwa Built Her Sparkly Empire," 22 Aug. 2019 Indeed, even when the orchestra, conducted by Rafael Payare, was going at full tilt, Bronfman’s double octaves and enormous chords rang out for all to hear. — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, "CSO review: Bronfman and Ax take on Brahms Piano Concertos," 3 Aug. 2019 As Paris, tenor Adam Fisher had wit and chemistry with Costa-Jackson, but on Sunday, not the high notes, and Paris’s first song includes many octave leaps to a high B-flat. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, "Odyssey Opera’s ‘La belle Hélène’ has flair, flaws," 17 June 2019 With only 12 notes in a chromatic octave, the quest to find new ways to construct melodies in pop songs has become ever harder. — M.h., The Economist, "The vexed question of samples and songwriting credits," 31 July 2019 In addition to using microtonality — a system in which the octave is often divided into dozens of pitches rather than the traditional 12 — Mr. Johnston sometimes used serial techniques, in which pitches were presented in a predetermined sequence. — Allan Kozinn, BostonGlobe.com, "Ben Johnston, who made microtonal music melodic," 27 July 2019 In addition to using microtonality — a system in which the octave is often divided into dozens of pitches rather than the traditional 12 — Mr. Johnston sometimes used serial techniques, in which pitches were presented in a predetermined sequence. — Allan Kozinn, New York Times, "Ben Johnston, Who Made Microtonal Music Melodic, Dies at 93," 25 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'octave.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for octave
octave
noun
English Language Learners Definition of octave
music
: the difference in sound between the first and eighth note on a musical scale
See the full definition for octave in the English Language Learners Dictionary
octave
noun
oc·tave
| \ ˈäk-tiv
\
\
Kids Definition of octave
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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