gamut

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A (normally) complete range.

   I must begin with rudiments of Art / To teach you gamoth in a briefer sort, - - Bian. Why, I am past my gamouth long agoe.

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Simplified etymology

Gamut comes from medieval Latin gamma ut. Gamma named the bass G, and ut was the first note of the lowest six-note scale; the term first denoted that lowest note, then the full musical range, and from about 1600 any complete range.

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.

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