gamut
[ gam-uht ]
/ ˈgæm ət /
noun
the entire scale or range: the gamut of dramatic emotion from grief to joy.
Music.
- the whole series of recognized musical notes.
- the major scale.
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Origin of gamut
1425–75; late Middle English < Medieval Latin; contraction of gamma ut, equivalent to gamma, used to represent the first or lowest tone (G) in the medieval scale + ut (later do); the notes of the scale (ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si) being named from a Latin hymn to St. John the Baptist: Ut queant laxis resonare fibris. Mira gestorum famuli tuorum, Solve polluti labii reatum, Sancte Iohannes
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
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British Dictionary definitions for gamut
gamut
/ (ˈgæmət) /
noun
entire range or scale, as of emotions
music
- a scale, esp (in medieval theory) one starting on the G on the bottom line of the bass staff
- the whole range of notes
physics the range of chromaticities that can be obtained by mixing three colours
Word Origin for gamut
C15: from Medieval Latin, changed from gamma ut, from gamma, the lowest note of the hexachord as established by Guido d'Arezzo + ut (now, doh), the first of the notes of the scale ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, derived from a Latin hymn to St John: Ut queant laxis re sonare fibris, Mi ra gestorum fa muli tuorum, Sol ve polluti la bi reatum, S ancte I ohannes
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for gamut
gamut
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper