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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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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

gamut

Pronunciation RealAudio

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.

X-Bonus

All restraints upon man's natural liberty, not necessary for the simple maintenance of justice, are of the nature of slavery, and differ from each other only in degree. -Lysander Spooner, lawyer (1808-1887)

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