octet

1. Music
   a. A composition for eight voices or eight instruments.
   b. A group of eight singers or eight instrumentalists.
2. A group of eight: “A train of heavy wagons rumbled north on the Winnipeg Trail, drawn by octets of oxen” (Garrison Keillor).
3. See octave.
4. A set of eight valence electrons in an atom or ion, forming a stable configuration.

Origin:

Origin: Alteration (influenced by octo- and duet)

Origin: of Italian ottetto

Origin: , from otto, eight

Origin: , from Latin octō; see oktō(u) in Indo-European roots