Definition of "ottava rima" [‖Ot•ta•va ri•ma]

• A stanza of verse consisting of eight lines in iambic pentameter rhyming abababcc. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""L'origini di lu Munnu", are fantastic poems in ottava rima in imitation of Berni."
• ""Teseide", established ottava rima (previously only used in popular verse) as the normal measure for Italian narrative poetry."