Word origin
C15: from Medieval Latin, changed from
gamma ut, from
gamma, the lowest note of the hexachord as established by Guido d'Arezzo +
ut (now,
doh), the first of the notes of the scale
ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, derived from a Latin hymn to St John:
Ut queant laxis
resonare fibris,
Mira gestorum
famuli tuorum,
Solve polluti
labi reatum,
Sancte
Iohannes