gamut

American  

[gam-uht] / ˈgæm ət /

noun

• gamuts
  plural

1. the entire scale or range.

   the gamut of dramatic emotion from grief to joy.

   Synonyms:

   extent, reach, scope, breadth, sweep

2. Music.

   1. the whole series of recognized musical notes.

   2. the major scale.

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gamut British  

/ ˈgæmət /

noun

1. entire range or scale, as of emotions

2. music

   1. a scale, esp (in medieval theory) one starting on the G on the bottom line of the bass staff

   2. the whole range of notes

3. physics the range of chromaticities that can be obtained by mixing three colours

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gamuts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of gamut

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin; contraction of gamma ut, equivalent to gamma, used to represent the first or lowest tone (G) in the medieval scale + ut (later do ); the notes of the scale ( ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si ) being named from a Latin hymn to St. John the Baptist: Ut queant laxis re sonare fibris. Mi ra gestorum fa muli tuorum, Sol ve polluti la bii reatum, S ancte I ohannes

Explanation

A visit with a long-lost cousin might arouse emotions that run the gamut of from joy to nostalgia to sorrow. A gamut is a full or complete range. In the 16th century, the gamut was the lowest note on the musical scale. In music as well as life, the word has expanded to mean from high to low, or the whole range. The word is often associated with "run," as in "run the gamut from totally excited to so terrified you're quaking with fear." And if you've talked about every discussion point on your agenda, you've covered the gamut of issues that need discussing.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gamut gamuts

Then you move to “for ease” luxuries that will run the gamut from ordering delivery on busy nights to hiring a cleaning service and beyond.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

He played six seasons in the minors before launching a coaching career that’s taken him through the gamut of pro baseball levels, and even out of the country.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

The foods are extreme and run the gamut, from silkworm pupa to a whole goat head.

From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026

Huang said Tuesday that Nvidia is "supply constrained" although "we have enough supply for very robust growth", referring to the gamut of materials used to make computer chips, from silicon wafers to advanced memory components.

From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026

Besides all this horde of minute but ceaselessly toiling creatures there are of course many larger forms, for soil life runs the gamut from bacteria to mammals.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

These gamuts are important if your work requires them, though if that’s the case, I’m guessing you know that.

From The Verge ● Jan. 17, 2022

He called them gamuts and likened them to a collection stones or shells he might pick up on the beach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2020

It’s as though a leaf blower has blown all the gamuts pirouetting into the air.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2020

Wide color gamuts let you see shades of colors that exist in real life but that earlier TVs couldn’t display.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2018

A style as brilliant, sinuous, and personal as his thought; flexible or massive, continent or coloured, he discourses at ease in all the gamuts and modes major, minor, and mixed.

From Unicorns by James Huneker

Related Words

• spectrum