ottava

American  

[oh-tah-vuh, awt-tah-vah] / oʊˈtɑ və, ɔtˈtɑ vɑ /

adverb

Music.

1. (of notes in a score) at an octave higher than written (when placed above the staff ) or lower than written (when placed below the staff ). 8va

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ottava British  

/ əʊˈtɑːvə /

noun

1. an interval of an octave See all'ottava

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Etymology

Origin of ottava

1810–20; < Italian: octave

Example Sentences

Although an occasional narrative experiment might disrupt the format, what makes “Law & Order” special is precisely the fact that it has one, like a sonnet, a sestina, or an ottava rima.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2022

He bows gracefully to ottava rima, the sonnet and ballad.

From Time Magazine Archive

The versification of the "Faerie Queene" is based upon the ottava rima, made so popular in Italian poetry by Tasso and Ariosto.

From Six Centuries of English Poetry Tennyson to Chaucer by Baldwin, James

That the ottava rima on the one hand, and the sonnet on the other, may have suggested the idea of it is quite possible.

From A History of Elizabethan Literature by Saintsbury, George

One of the commonest 8-line stanzas is that imported from Italy and called ottava rima, abababcc.

From The Principles of English Versification by Baum, Paull Franklin