octet
/ɒkˈtɛt
/noun
1A group of eight people or things, in particular:The first couple octets are the manufacturer, the middle are the device, and the final are like serial numbers....
- Gaurav is an active member in the comedy octet, The Other Guys.
- I could only hope the squabbling octet did not end up at the same resort.
1.1A group of eight musicians.Jamil Sheriff is the pianist with Joel's band and he will be taking his own octet to Leeds College of Music on Wednesday....
- John of Gaunt entered five groups in this year's regional festival including its wind band, low brass ensemble and trombone octet.
- The octet will go on to perform the Dvorak anniversary concert at Castle Howard on Tuesday.
1.2A musical composition for eight voices or instruments.In my continuing education I learned that Mendelssohn orchestrated the scherzo of his octet....
- Arriaga was second fiddle in a string quartet at nine years of age, and two years later wrote an octet.
- Burney recorded that his instrumental works - symphonies, concertos, octets, quartets, and trios - were as popular as his vocal music.
1.3The first eight lines of a sonnet.In the first huitain (an octet that rhymes ababbcbc) de Pisan declares her personal voice as the narrator....
- Here is the octet as it is called, the first eight lines of the sonnet.
1.4 Chemistry A stable group of eight electrons occupying a single shell in an atom.The octet rule is followed in so many compounds it is a useful guide....
- An atom will bond with another in order to satisfy the octet rule.
- The noble gas atoms have a complete octet of electrons in the outermost shell.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from Italian ottetto or German Oktett, on the pattern of duet and quartet.