octet

/ɑkˈtɛt/
noun
  1. A group of eight people or things.
    • An octet of planets orbits the distant star.
    • The committee formed an octet to study the problem.
    • The octet of musicians played a beautiful symphony.
  2. A musical composition for eight voices or instruments.
    • Mendelssohn wrote a famous octet for strings.
    • She composed an octet for woodwinds and brass.
    • The choir performed an octet at the concert.
  3. A set of eight bits in computing, also called a byte.
    • The network protocol transmits data in octets.
    • Each character in the file is stored as one octet.
    • An octet can represent 256 different values.
Synonyms