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Jun 1, 2005

This week's theme
Words from music

This week's words
bravura
crescendo
gamut
coda
finale

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gamut

gamut (GAM-uht) noun

The complete range of something.

[From Medieval Latin, contraction of gamma ut, from gamma (third letter of the Greek alphabet), used to represent the lowest tone + ut, from the names of the notes ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si (ut and si later changed to do and ti). Gamma + ut contracted to gamut and the meaning expanded to denote all notes. The names of the notes are derived from the initial syllables of a Latin hymn.]

See more usage examples of gamut in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

"'Our biggest problem is basic infrastructure strain, and that covers the gamut - electricity, water, telephone service - you name it, we have continuous basic problems with all of them,' [Alain Tiphaine] said."
Luis Ramos; Caribbean Business; Puerto Rico Herald; Jul 8, 2004.

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