Word Study
octet
CIDE DICTIONARY
octet, n. [From L. octo eight, like E. duet, fr.L. duo. See Octave.].
- A composition for eight parts, usually for eight solo instruments or voices. [1913 Webster]
- A group of eight singers or eight musicians. [PJC]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
octet, n. (also octette)
1 Mus. a a composition for eight voices or instruments. b the performers of such a piece.
2 a group of eight.
3 the first eight lines of a sonnet.
4 Chem. a stable group of eight electrons.
1 Mus. a a composition for eight voices or instruments. b the performers of such a piece.
2 a group of eight.
3 the first eight lines of a sonnet.
4 Chem. a stable group of eight electrons.
Etymology
It. ottetto or G Oktett: assim. to OCT-, DUET, QUARTET
THESAURUS
octet
Octateuch, Spenserian stanza, antistrophe, beta particle, bipartisanship, book, burden, canto, cathode particle, chorus, coaction, coadjuvancy, coadministration, coagency, cochairmanship, codirectorship, collaboration, collaborativeness, collectivism, collusion, commensalism, common effort, common enterprise, communalism, communism, communitarianism, community, complicity, concert, concord, concordance, concurrence, cooperation, cooperativeness, couplet, distich, duet, duettino, duo, duumvirate, ecumenicalism, ecumenicism, ecumenism, eight, eighter from Decatur, electron, electron affinity, electron cloud, electron pair, electron shells, electron spin, electron transfer, electron-positron pair, energy level, ensemble music, ensemble singing, envoi, epode, esprit, esprit de corps, excited state, extranuclear electrons, fellow feeling, fellowship, ground state, harmony, heptastich, hexastich, joining of forces, joint effort, joint operation, line, lone pair, mass action, measure, monostich, morale, mutual assistance, mutualism, mutuality, negatron, octad, octagon, octahedron, octameter, octastich, octastyle, octave, octavo, octonary, octosyllable, ogdoad, orbital electron, ottava rima, part music, part singing, part song, pentastich, photoelectron, polyphonic music, pooling, pooling of resources, pulling together, quartet, quatrain, quintet, reciprocity, recoil electron, refrain, rhyme royal, secondary electron, septet, septuor, sestet, sextet, shared pair, solidarity, stanza, stave, strain, strophe, subvalent electrons, surface-bound electron, syllable, symbiosis, synergism, synergy, team spirit, teamwork, tercet, terza rima, terzet, terzetto, tetrastich, thermion, trio, triplet, tristich, triumvirate, troika, united action, utas, valence electrons, valence shell, verse, wandering electronFor further exploring for "octet" in Webster Dictionary Online