gamut English · revision 2446

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɡæm.ət/, /ˈɡæm.ɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a contraction of [[la-med|gamma ut]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from ''gamma'', the Greek letter used for the lowest note of the medieval scale, and ''ut'', the first note of the six-note scale.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) The syllables ''ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la'' were taken from a Latin hymn to St John the Baptist, ''Ut queant laxis resonare fibris…'', whose lines begin on successive notes.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Etymonline) ''Ut'' was later replaced by ''do''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The lowest note of the medieval scale, low G (before 1450; 1530 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The name of the lowest note was extended to the whole Great Scale, credited to Guido d'Arezzo (before 1529),^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and later to the whole series of recognized notes (1709) and the full range of a voice or instrument (1639).^(OED 1989) The figurative sense “the whole range of something” is first recorded in 1626,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) and is now the main one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1450 – the lowest note of the medieval scale.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * before 1529 – the Great Scale of medieval music.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1626 – figurative, the whole range of something.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1639 – the full compass of a voice or instrument.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1709 – the whole series of recognized notes.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The complete range or extent of something.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(music)'' The whole series of recognized notes.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ut]]

+ * [[gamma]]

+ * [[solfège]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House lists ''sweep'', ''breadth'', ''scope'', ''reach'', ''extent'' and ''field'' as synonyms.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}