gamut

noun

gam·​ut ˈga-mət 

1

: the whole series of recognized musical notes

2

: an entire range or series

ran the gamut from praise to contempt

Did you know?

With the song “Do-Re-Mi,” the 1965 musical film The Sound of Music (adapted from the 1958 stage musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein) introduced millions of non-musicians to solfège, the singing of the sol-fa syllables—do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti—to teach the tones of a musical scale. Centuries earlier, however, the do in “Do-Re-Mi” was known as ut. Indeed, the first note on the scale of Guido d’Arezzo, an 11th century musician and monk who had his own way of applying syllables to musical tones, was ut. d’Arezzo also called the first line of his bass staff gamma, which meant that gamma ut was the term for a note written on the first staff line. In time, gamma ut underwent a shortening to gamut, and later its meaning expanded first to cover all the notes of d’Arezzo’s scale, then to cover all the notes in the range of an instrument, and, eventually, to cover an entire range of any sort.

Synonyms

• diapason
• range
• scale
• spectrum
• spread
• stretch

Choose the Right Synonym for gamut

range, gamut, compass, sweep, scope, orbit mean the extent that lies within the powers of something (as to cover or control).

range is a general term indicating the extent of one's perception or the extent of powers, capacities, or possibilities.

the entire range of human experience

gamut suggests a graduated series running from one possible extreme to another.

a performance that ran the gamut of emotions

compass implies a sometimes limited extent of perception, knowledge, or activity.

your concerns lie beyond the narrow compass of this study

sweep suggests extent, often circular or arc-shaped, of motion or activity.

the book covers the entire sweep of criminal activity

scope is applicable to an area of activity, predetermined and limited, but somewhat flexible.

as time went on, the scope of the investigation widened

orbit suggests an often circumscribed range of activity or influence within which forces work toward accommodation.

within that restricted orbit they tried to effect social change

Examples of gamut in a Sentence

She experienced the full gamut of human emotions.

the actress's work runs the gamut from goofy comedies to serious historical dramas

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s also support for 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. —Ben Sin, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024

Many disabled singles may not consider this practical and may not self-identify that way – instead preferring to access a wider gamut of prospective dates. —Gus Alexiou, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024

The specs reveal coverage of 90% of the DCI-P3 gamut and 98% for Rec.709, and the unit comes with 11 levels of color temperature tuning as well as BenQ's HDR-PRO tone mapping and dynamic iris technology, plus support for HDR10+ content. —Paul Ridden, New Atlas, 2 Nov. 2024

In today’s stand-up comedy scene, a booming industry embracing a gamut of personalities and viewpoints, does speaking truth to power remain part of the job description? —Julie Seabaugh, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English gamut, gamma-ut "lowest note in the medieval hexachord system, the system itself," borrowed from Medieval Latin, from gamma gamma entry 1 (used as a symbol for the lowest note in the scale) + ut ut

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing gamut

• run the gamut

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Kids Definition

gamut

noun

gam·​ut ˈgam-ət 

: an entire range or series

ran the gamut from rich to poor

Etymology

probably a contraction of gamma ut, a Latin expression in the Middle Ages for "the full range of notes in music," from gamma "the lowest note on the staff" and ut "the first note of the scale"