Standard Lemma guide

gamut

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈɡæm.ət/
  • /ˈɡæm.ɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -æmɪt
  • CMU ARPABET: G AE1 M AH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A (normally) complete range.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1933?, Dorothy Parker, review of Katharine Hepburn in the Broadway play The Lake She delivered a striking performance that ran the gamut of emotions, from A to B.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

All the notes in a musical scale.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

All the colours that can be presented by a device such as a monitor or printer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a complete extent or range:

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a face that expressed a gamut of emotions

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: scope, range, reach, orbit, compass, ambit

5

noun

Meaning 5

the entire scale of musical notes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: scale, musical scale

History

Etymology

1520s, original sense “lowest note of musical scale”, contraction of Medieval Latin gamma ut, from gamma (“Greek letter, corresponding to the musical note G”) + ut (“first solfège syllable, now replaced by do”). In modern terms, “G do” – the first note of the G scale. Meaning later extended to mean all the notes of a scale, and then more generally any complete range.

Across languages

Translations

85 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: أَمْر بِرُمَتِه (ʔamr birumatih) — complete range
  • Bulgarian: диапазон (diapazon) — complete range
  • Catalan: gamma — complete range
  • Czech: škála — complete range
  • Czech: rozsah — complete range
  • Dutch: gamma — complete range
  • Dutch: pallet — complete range
  • Esperanto: gamo — complete range
  • Finnish: kirjo — complete range
  • Finnish: skaala — complete range
  • Finnish: asteikko — complete range
  • French: gamme — complete range
  • French: palette — complete range
  • Georgian: გამა (gama) — complete range
  • Georgian: დიაპაზონი (diaṗazoni) — complete range
  • German: Skala — complete range
  • German: Palette — complete range
  • Greek: γκάμα (gkáma) — complete range
  • Hungarian: skála — complete range
  • Icelandic: skali — complete range
  • Icelandic: svið — complete range
  • Icelandic: röð — complete range
  • Japanese: 全領域 (zen-ryōiki) — complete range
  • Korean: 전반 (jeonban) — complete range
  • Korean: 전영역 (jeonnyeong'yeok) — complete range
  • Luxembourgish: Gamm — complete range
  • Polish: gama — complete range
  • Portuguese: gama — complete range
  • Romanian: gamă — complete range
  • Romanian: paletă — complete range
  • Russian: га́мма (gámma) — complete range
  • Russian: диапазо́н (diapazón) — complete range
  • Russian: охва́т (oxvát) — complete range
  • Spanish: gama — complete range
  • Swedish: skala — complete range
  • Swedish: register — complete range
  • Turkish: skala — complete range
  • Arabic: سُلَّمُ المُوسِيقَيّ (sullamu l-mūsīqayy) — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Bulgarian: гама (gama) — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Catalan: gamma — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Czech: škála — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Czech: rozsah — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Dutch: toonladder — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Esperanto: gamo — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Finnish: sävelasteikko — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Finnish: asteikko — all the notes in the musical scale
  • French: gamme — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Georgian: გამა (gama) — all the notes in the musical scale
  • German: Tonumfang — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Greek: κλίμακα (klímaka) — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Hungarian: hangskála — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Icelandic: tónaróf — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Icelandic: tónaskali — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Polish: gama — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Portuguese: gama — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Romanian: gamă — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Russian: га́мма (gámma) — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Spanish: gama — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Turkish: gam — all the notes in the musical scale
  • Arabic: سلسلة اللونية — all the colours available to a device
  • Bulgarian: палитра (palitra) — all the colours available to a device
  • Catalan: gamma — all the colours available to a device
  • Czech: (barevná) škála — all the colours available to a device
  • Czech: paleta — all the colours available to a device
  • Finnish: väriala — all the colours available to a device
  • Finnish: värintoistoalue — all the colours available to a device
  • Finnish: värintoistoala — all the colours available to a device
  • French: gamme — all the colours available to a device
  • French: palette — all the colours available to a device
  • French: gamut — all the colours available to a device
  • Georgian: გამა (gama) — all the colours available to a device
  • Georgian: პალიტრა (ṗaliṭra) — all the colours available to a device
  • German: Farbumfang — all the colours available to a device
  • German: Gamut — all the colours available to a device
  • Hungarian: színskála — all the colours available to a device
  • Ido: kolor-serio — all the colours available to a device
  • Norwegian: palett — all the colours available to a device
  • Portuguese: gama — all the colours available to a device
  • Romanian: paletă — all the colours available to a device
  • Romanian: gamă — all the colours available to a device
  • Russian: га́мма (gámma) — all the colours available to a device
  • Russian: диапазо́н (diapazón) — all the colours available to a device
  • Russian: охва́т (oxvát) — all the colours available to a device
  • Spanish: gama — all the colours available to a device
  • Turkish: renk paleti — all the colours available to a device
Real reading context

gamut in complete knowledge articles