[ 'gamət ]
■ noun
1》 the complete range or scope of something: the whole ~ of human emotion.
2》 Music a complete scale of musical notes; the range of a voice or instrument.
3》 historical a scale consisting of seven overlapping hexachords, containing all the recognized notes used in medieval music, covering almost three octaves from bass G to treble E.
↘the lowest note in this scale.
Phrases
run the ~ experience or display the complete range of something.
Origin
ME: from med. L. gamma ut (in sense 3): the Greek letter Γ (gamma) was used for bass G, with ut indicating that it was the first note in the lowest of the hexachords.