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 in a Sentence
He sang the song an octave lower.
Recent Examples on the Web
The band’s main thrust was Minnie’s special gift — a voice that ranges over five octaves, soaring skyward to linger on some spine-tingling note before floating feather-like to where words can again take shape.
—
David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2024
One of his students was a musician who decided to study the pitches and octaves produced from the percussive aspects of flint-knapping.
—Ars Technica, 2 Jan. 2025
Skarsgård speaks of his heavy prosthetics-laden transformation — which includes a mustache and deepening his voice by an entire octave — in an interview with Entertainment Weekly (conducted weeks prior to the film's premiere).
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 26 Dec. 2024
And that was the moment Martin Tyler’s voice went up an octave in the Sky Sports commentary box.
—Daniel Taylor, The Athletic, 12 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for octave 
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David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2024
One of his students was a musician who decided to study the pitches and octaves produced from the percussive aspects of flint-knapping.
—Ars Technica, 2 Jan. 2025
Skarsgård speaks of his heavy prosthetics-laden transformation — which includes a mustache and deepening his voice by an entire octave — in an interview with Entertainment Weekly (conducted weeks prior to the film's premiere).
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 26 Dec. 2024
And that was the moment Martin Tyler’s voice went up an octave in the Sky Sports commentary box.
—Daniel Taylor, The Athletic, 12 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for octave
Dictionary Entries Near octave
Cite this Entry
“Octave.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/octave. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
octave
noun
oc·tave
ˈäk-tiv 
-təv,
-ˌtāv
1
: a group of eight lines of poetry (as the first eight lines of a sonnet)
2
a
: the difference in pitch between the first and eighth tone on the scale
b
: a tone or note that is eight steps above or below another note or tone
3
: a group of eight
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