septet

/sɛpˈtɛt/

Other forms: septets

A group of seven people or seven items is a septet. Parts of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are written in septets, or stanzas of seven lines.

In literature, the septet is fairly rare and often associated with Chaucer, who was the first known poet to use a seven-line iambic pentameter stanza, also known as a "rhyme royal." Outside of poetry, a septet is also a group of seven singers or musicians. You can describe any group of seven this way as well, like the septet of chickens that lives in your back yard. The Latin root, septem, means "seven."

Definitions of septet

1. noun

   a musical composition written for seven performers
   synonyms: septette

   type of:

   composition, musical composition, opus, piece, piece of music

   a musical work that has been created
2. noun

   seven performers or singers who perform together
   synonyms: septette

   type of:

   musical group, musical organisation, musical organization

   an organization of musicians who perform together
3. noun

   a set of seven similar things considered as a unit
   synonyms: septette

   type of:

   set

   a group of things of the same kind that belong together and are so used
4. noun

   seven people considered as a unit
   synonyms: septette, sevensome

   type of:

   assemblage, gathering

   a group of persons together in one place
5. noun

   a rhythmic group of seven lines of verse
   type of:

   stanza

   a fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem
6. noun

   the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one
   synonyms: 7, VII, heptad, septenary, seven, sevener

   type of:

   digit, figure

   one of the elements that collectively form a system of numeration