Webster's English Dictionary

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octave

oc.tave \'a:k-tiv, -t*v, -.ta-v\ n [ME, fr. ML octava, fr. L, fem. of 
   octavus eighth, fr. octo e]ight - more at EIGHT 1: an eight day period of 
   observances beginning with the festival day  2a: a stanza of eight lines : 
   OTTAVA RIMA  2b: the first two quatrains or first eight verses of a sonnet  
   3a: a musical interval embracing eight diatonic degrees  3b: a tone or note 
   at this interval  3c: the harmonic combination of two tones an octave apart 
    3d: the whole series of notes, tones, or digitals comprised within this 
   int erval and forming the unit of the modern scale 3e: an organ stop giving 
   tones an octave above those corresponding to the d igitals 4: the eighth of 
   the eight defensive positions in fencing  5: a group of eight