Originally an Italian stanza of eight 11-syllable lines, with a rhyme scheme of ABABABCC. Sir Thomas Wyatt introduced the form in English, and Lord Byron adapted it to a 10-syllable line for his mock- [..]

1820, Italian, "eight-lined stanza," literally "eighth rhyme," from ottava "eighth" (see octave). A stanza of eight 11-syllable lines, rhymed a b a b a b c c, but in the [..]

literally, "octave (eighth) rhyme" (Italian); a verse form consisting of eight-line stanzas with an abababcc rhyme scheme and iambic meter (usually pentameter). W. B. Yeats’s &qu [..]

an eight line verse stanza rhyming abababcc. In English it is usually in iambic pentameter. It was introduced into English by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the 1530s, and was widely used for long verse narrativ [..]

a poem or stanza of eight lines with a specific rhyme pattern: iambic pentameter with ab ab ab cc

A form of Italian poetry that is set into very strict stanzas of eight hendecasyllabic lines (or eight lines with eleven syllables). This form of poetry was also known as rispetto. These stanzas were [..]

A poem, of Italian origin, consisting of eight line stanzas with a rhyme scheme a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c. e.g. Don Juan by Lord Byron.  

No, you haven't stumbled upon Italian Shmoop (although we can do a mean Florentine accent). Ottava rima is just the term used to describe a poetic form whose stanzas have eight lines (ottava) and [..]