Dictionary
all' ot•ta•va
Pronunciation: (äl" u-tä'vu; It.äl"lôt-tä'vä), [key] Music.
a direction (8va), placed above or below the staff to indicate that the passage covered is to be played one octave higher or lower respectively.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.