Word of the Day

: May 31, 2014

gamut

noun GAM-ut

What It Means

1 : the whole series of recognized musical notes

2 : an entire range or series

gamut in Context

"The films offered at Kauai's Hawaii Ocean Film Festival run the gamut from sports to science." - Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi, Honolulu Star, August 16, 2009

"The popular program is held during school vacation week and again during summer. The curriculum is comprehensive-while age-appropriate-and runs the gamut from animal population control to cultivating compassion for all creatures." - Ann M. Efimetz, Virginia Gazette, April 12, 2014

Did You Know?

To get the lowdown on "gamut," we have to dive to the bottom of a musical scale developed by 11th-century musician and monk Guido of Arezzo. Guido called the first line of his bass staff "gamma" and the first note in his scale "ut," 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" but climbed the scale of meaning. It expanded to cover all the notes of Guido's scale, then all the notes in the range of an instrument, and, eventually, an entire range of any sort.