Meaning & use
octave
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Meanings
nouncountablemusic
The musical interval between a note and the note with double or half its frequency, heard as the same name higher or lower.
Grammar: Takes a plural: three octaves. Often follows an octave higher/lower or above/below.
Patterns
- an octave higher/lower
- an octave above/below something
- double the frequency in an octave
Her voice rose an octave when she saw the surprise.
A note an octave above middle C has twice the frequency of middle C.
nouncountablemusic
The span of eight scale steps on an instrument or voice, measured from one note to its octave.
Grammar: Usually names a range: a two-octave range. Contrast meaning 1, which is the interval itself.
Patterns
- span an octave
- over a two-octave range
- within the same octave
The beginner exercises stay within one octave.
This trumpet passage demands control over almost three octaves.
nouncountableliterary
In poetry, a stanza of eight lines, especially the opening part of an Italian sonnet.
Grammar: Used mainly in literary discussion; plural is octaves.
Patterns
- an octave rhymes abbaabba
- the octave of a sonnet
The octave asks a question that the final lines answer.
Students marked the rhyme scheme of the octave.
nouncountablereligionold-fashioned
The eighth day after a church feast, counted inclusively, kept as an extension or renewal of the celebration.
Grammar: A liturgical sense; rare outside historical or religious writing.
Patterns
- celebrate the octave
- the octave of Easter
Medieval calendars marked the octave with special prayers.
The feast continued through its octave.
nouncountableliteraryfigurative
A complete sweep from one extreme to another, used figuratively for pitch, feeling, or experience.
Grammar: Literary and less common; often singular with of.
Patterns
- the whole octave of emotion
- an octave of color
The novel moves across the whole octave of hope and grief.
Sunset gave the sky an octave of color.
Word forms
| plural | octaves |
|---|
Common combinations
- an octave higher
- The violin enters an octave higher than the cello.
- an octave lower
- He hummed the same tune an octave lower.
- span an octave
- Her comfortable range can span an octave.
- play in octaves
- The children practiced playing in octaves.
- over a two-octave range
- The synthesizer glides over a two-octave range.
Synonyms and how they differ
Opposites
Commonly confused: octave or octet? octave or octavo?
octave vs octet
An octet is eight performers or a piece for eight; an octave is an interval or span of eight scale steps.
octave vs octavo
Octavo is a book size based on sheets folded into eight leaves; it is unrelated to musical pitch.
Practice
The final hymn was sung ___ octaves, with men and women doubling the melody.
Choose one answer.
Use in octaves for the fixed musical pattern of doubling notes eight steps apart. At, on, and by octaves are not standard phrases here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “octave”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.