You searched for:
“gamuts”
1. A whole series or scale of musical notes: Before playing her favorite musical pieces on the piano, Pamela warmed up by playing a gamut of harmonics that her teacher gave her.
2. A complete or entire range of anything: Mary's feelings about the singing contest ran the gamut from hope to despair.
3. Etymology: Guido of Arezzo, an 11th-century musician and a monk, called the first line of his bass staff gamma and the first note in his scale ut, which meant that gamma ut was the note written on the first staff line.
© ALL rights are reserved.
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
2. A complete or entire range of anything: Mary's feelings about the singing contest ran the gamut from hope to despair.
3. Etymology: Guido of Arezzo, an 11th-century musician and a monk, called the first line of his bass staff gamma and the first note in his scale ut, which meant that gamma ut was the note written on the first staff line.
Over the years, gamma ut was shortened to gamut; however, the scale of its meaning expanded to cover "all the notes of Guido's musical scale", then "all the notes in the range of a musical instrument", and finally, "an entire range of anything".
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.
This entry is located in the following unit:
English Words in Action, Group G
(page 1)
A complete range of anything; such as, the entire scale of musical notes or ranges of emotions. (1)
This entry is located in the following unit:
Word a Day Revisited Index of Cartoons Illustrating the Meanings of Words
(page 40)