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Meaning of Octave | Babel Free

Noun CEFR C2 Specialized
ˈɒktɪv

Definitions

  1. An interval of twelve semitones spanning eight degrees of the diatonic scale, representing a doubling or halving in pitch frequency.
  2. The pitch an octave higher than a given pitch.
  3. A coupler on an organ which allows the organist to sound the note an octave above the note of the key pressed (cf sub-octave)
  4. A poetic stanza consisting of eight lines; usually used as one part of a sonnet.
  5. The eighth defensive position, with the sword hand held at waist height, and the tip of the sword out straight at knee level.
  6. The day that is one week after a feast day in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church.
  7. An eight-day period beginning on a feast day in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church.
  8. A small cask of wine, one eighth of a pipe.
  9. An octonion.
  10. Any of a number of coherent-noise functions of differing frequency that are added together to form Perlin noise.
  11. The subjective vibration of a planet.

Equivalents

العربية أوكتاف
Bosanski oktava октава
Čeština oktáva
Dansk oktav
Deutsch Oktave
Ελληνικά οκτάβα
Esperanto oktavo
Español octava
Français octave
Gaeilge ochtach
Gàidhlig ochdad
עברית אוקטבה
हिन्दी सप्तक
Hrvatski oktava октава
Հայերեն ութնյակ
Bahasa Indonesia oktaf
Íslenska áttund
Italiano Ottava
Nederlands octaaf
Polski oktawa
Português oitava
Română octavă
Русский октава
Српски oktava октава
Svenska oktav
中文 高八度

Examples

“The melody jumps up an octave at the beginning, then later drops back down an octave.”
“The singer was known for astounding clarity over her entire five-octave range.”
“The octave has a pitch ratio of 2:1.”
“The bass starts on a low E, and the tenor comes in on the octave.”
“With mournful melody it continued this octave.”

The New Arcadia

“If they always do a lateral parry quarte, and never a semicircular octave, that gives you an opening.”
“[…] the Chamberlains' records of the companies' visits to their towns are, for the most part, not precisely dates, but merely group them together […] within their annual accounting period which normally […] ran from Michaelmas (29 September) to Michaelmas, or its octave (6 October).”
“It was extended to the entire Church by 1814, and then in 1913 the feast was transferred to September 15, the octave day of the Birth of Mary and the day after the Exaltation of the Cross.”
“1870, The Night Hours of the Church, trans. Rev. J. M. Neale Of an Octave the Office is said. or at least commemorated, (when any Sunday or Feast intervene), for eight successive days.”
“Mercury then joins its higher octave and generous counterpart Jupiter early next week, and it opens gates of opportunity.”

CEFR level

C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
See all C2 English words →

See also

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