octave

\ɔk.tav\

/\ɔk.tav\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“octave” has 8 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #15,698. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,698
frequency rank, French
1,642
“O” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Huitaine, espace de huit jours consacré, dans l’église romaine, à solenniser quelque grande fête.

Corpus desk

Index FR-octave · octave · French

octave · rank #15,698 · 8 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,698
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,642
  • PHOTO-FINISH ocean

Nearest frequency peer: ocean (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « octave »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « octave » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

octave vs otage
67% similar
octave vs octavia
71% similar
octave vs océane
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for octave
PropertyValue
Headwordoctave
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ɔk.tav\
Letters6
Frequency rank#15,698
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « octave »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.octavese place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « ocean » (#15,697), « oil » (#15,699), « Nicholas » (#15,695). Parmi 1,642 lemmes en « O », « octave » est au #15,698. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around octave (IPA \ɔk.tav\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,698 among 1,642 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for octave, with forms such as "cotave", "ocatve", and "occtave". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "otage", "octavia", "océane", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is octave, spelled O-C-T-A-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Huitaine, espace de huit jours consacré, dans l’église romaine, à solenniser quelque grande fête.
  2. 2
    Dernier jour de l’octave, qui correspond, comme jour de la semaine, à la fête qu’on célèbre.
  3. 3
    Huitaine, durée de huit jours.
  4. 4
    Intervalle de huit degrés.
  5. 5
    Consonance que font deux notes éloignées l’une de l’autre de huit degrés, les deux extrêmes comprises.
  6. 6
    Huit notes comprises dans cet intervalle.
  7. 7
    Large intervalle entre deux éléments.
  8. 8
    Gamme, mode.
  9. 9
    Stance de huit vers employées dans la poésie italienne, espagnole et portugaise.
  10. 10
    À un niveau différent (supérieur ou inférieur).
  11. 11
    Huitième position de l’épée, que l’on tient le poignet en supination.
  12. 12
    En joaillerie c’est la huitième partie d’un marc soit 30,59 grammes, en draperie c’est la huitième partie d’une aune soit presque 14 centimètres.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how octave appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Octave de Pâques, de la Pentecôte, de la Dieu.
  2. Le premier, le dernier jour de l’octave.

This word in other languages

octave(English)octava(Español)Oktave(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cotave
  • ocatve
  • occtave
  • octaev
  • octavve
  • octtave
  • octvae
  • otcave

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of octave - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

cotave2ocatve2occtave1octaev2octavve1octtave1octvae2otcave2
Edit distance from "octave"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "octave"?
"octave" is spelled O-C-T-A-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ɔk.tav\.
What does "octave" mean?
As a noun, "octave" means: Huitaine, espace de huit jours consacré, dans l’église romaine, à solenniser quelque grande fête.
What words are commonly confused with "octave"?
"octave" is commonly confused with "otage", "octavia", "océane". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "octave"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "octave" is \ɔk.tav\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "octave" come from?
"octave" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "octave", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mènera#15,688maçons#15,679Martha#15,678marrer#15,677

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

mettrai8 variantspoussin8 variantspoutre8 variantslessive8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list