OCTAVE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Octave

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/ˈɑktɪv/ Listen

noun

Octave n.

The eighth day after a church festival, the festival day being included; also, the week following a church festival. "The octaves of Easter."

(Mus.)

(a)

The eighth tone in the scale; the interval between one and eight of the scale, or any interval of equal length; an interval of five tones and two semitones.

(b)

The whole diatonic scale itself. Note: The ratio of a musical tone to its octave above is 1:2 as regards the number of vibrations producing the tones.

(Poet.) The first two stanzas of a sonnet, consisting of four verses each; a stanza of eight lines. "With mournful melody it continued this octave."

Double octave. (Mus.) See under Double.

Octave flute (Mus.), a small flute, the tones of which range an octave higher than those of the German or ordinary flute; called also piccolo. See Piccolo.

A small cask of wine, the eighth part of a pipe.

adjective

Octave adj. Consisting of eight; eight.

See images of 'Octave'

Etymology of 'Octave'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Octave" Quotes from Famous Books

... low story just over the shops, and that the Rue de Rivoli is one of the noisiest streets in the city.)—"But Feuillet has leased the third and fourth floors: why don't you receive up there?" responded the visitor.—"Oh, Octave would never hear of such a thing. Why, when I merely asked leave to hang some of my dresses up stairs, he would not let me: 'I have leased this whole story in order to have silence about me when I write, and the story overhead to have quiet above me. If ...

— Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 22, September, 1878 • Various

... a man shall be permitted to raise his caste. They are practically omnipotent, until one of them rises by still larger sacrifices to a still higher caste, and becomes sole master. If there are no more degrees to reach, the whole scale is run through again an octave higher, so to speak. The jaws of the killed pigs are hung up in the gamal in bundles or rows, as a sign of the wealth and power of the proprietor. These chiefs are in connection with the mightiest spirits, have supernatural ...

— Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific • Felix Speiser

... put things back on the teacher-student level might have better results. "You wanted me to see you?" he said in a grave, scholarly tone. Then, gulping briefly, he amended it in a voice that had suddenly grown an octave: "You wanted to see me? ...

— Pagan Passions • Gordon Randall Garrett

... slightly behind the trebles as regarded time, and a major third below them as regarded pitch. The housekeeper, a large, dark person with a fringe on her upper lip, unshaven and unashamed, produced a really remarkable effect by singing the air an octave below the trebles. Unfortunately Lady Ingleby was apt to confuse her with the butler. Myra herself was the first to admit that she had not "much ear"; but it was decidedly trying, at a moment when she dared not remove ...

— The Rosary • Florence L. Barclay

... the sun filtered in a rouged and somber glow. Vermilion fabrics covered a long couch against the wall. Red carpets, red tapestries, tawny vases of brass inlaid with niello; crimsons and varying reds struck an insistent octave ...

— Fantazius Mallare - A Mysterious Oath • Ben Hecht

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