gamut

Definition

A (normally) complete range.

Etymology

1520s, original sense “lowest note of musical scale”, contraction of Medieval Latin gamma ut, from gamma (“Greek letter, corresponding to the musical note G”) + ut (“first solfège syllable, now replaced by do”). In modern terms, “G do” – the first note of the G scale. Meaning later extended to mean all the notes of a scale, and then more generally any complete range.

Example Sentences

• "I must begin with rudiments of Art / To teach you gamoth in a briefer sort, - - Bian. Why, I am past my gamouth long agoe."
• "The entire gamut of the view's changes should have been known to her; its winter aspect, spring, summer and autumn; how storms came up from the sea; how the moors shuddered and brightened as the clouds went over; she should have noted the red spot where the villas were building; and the criss-cross of lines where the allotments were cut..."
• "1933?, Dorothy Parker, review of Katharine Hepburn in the Broadway play The Lake She delivered a striking performance that ran the gamut of emotions, from A to B."

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