gamut

[ gam-uht ]

/ ˈgæm ət /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gamut ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Nearby words

gamosepalous, gamow, gamow, george, gamp, gams, gamut, gamy, gan, ganache, gance, ganch

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

SYNONYMS FOR gamut

1 sweep, breadth, scope, reach, extent, field.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gamut ON THESAURUS.COM

Can be confusedgambit gamut gantlet gauntlet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gamut

She ran the gamut with physical humor and dished out droll, self-deprecating one-liners.
Ann B. Davis Was the Zesty Antidote to the Bradys|Emily Shire|June 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We take on the gamut of recent confessionals, from the sickeningly self-involved to the extremely endearing.
How Likable Is Alec Baldwin After His ‘New York Magazine’ Confessional?|Amy Zimmerman|February 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It ran the gamut of ‘I want to thank you,’ ‘Because of you I turned a corner,’ to ‘How could you do this to me?’
Making It in the 2-1-2: How Kenneth Walsh Achieved His NY Dream|Tim Teeman|February 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It ran the gamut from abstract, original eveningwear to a sort of sixties-inspired minimalism.
Tom Ford Nods to Jay Z at London Fashion Week|Liza Foreman|February 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Speculation runs the gamut on whether or not Italy would actually request extradition.
Amanda Knox: I’ll Be A Fugitive If They Convict Me|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He ran the gamut of vocal conceit, and the polyglot fertility of his fancy simply astounded his rapt auditor.
The Holy Cross and Other Tales|Eugene Field
My gamut was so very limited in its terms, and would not give a note to one in a thousand of those I saw.
Field and Hedgerow|Richard Jefferies
After they had taught me the gamut, they would gladly hear me teach them some of the mysteries of the new birth.
The Life of the Rev. George Whitefield, Volume I (of 2)|Luke Tyerman
The correspondence of the gamut of values to that of the light and dark scale of such an actual scene is perfect.
French Art|W. C. Brownell
In testing the depth of hypnosis, I run the gamut of all of the tests from light to deep.
A Practical Guide to Self-Hypnosis|Melvin Powers

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gamut

gamut

1520s, originally, "lowest note in the medieval musical scale," in the system of notation devised by Guido d'Arezzo, contraction of Medieval Latin gamma ut, from gamma, the Greek letter, indicating a note below A, + ut, the low note on the six-note musical scale that took names from corresponding syllables in a Latin hymn for St. John the Baptist's Day:

Ut queant laxis resonare fibris
Mira gestorum famuli tuorum
Solve polluti labii reatum,

etc. Gamut came to be used for "the whole musical scale;" the figurative sense of "entire scale or range" of anything is first recorded 1620s. When the modern octave scale was set early 16c., si was added, changed to ti in Britain and U.S. to keep the syllables as different from each other as possible. Ut later was replaced by more sonorous do (n.). Cf. also solmisation.