variant

[ vair-ee-uhnt ]

/ ˈvɛər i ənt /

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See synonyms for: variant / variants on Thesaurus.com

adjective

tending to change or alter; exhibiting variety or diversity; varying: variant shades of color.

not agreeing or conforming; differing, especially from something of the same general kind.

not definitive, as a version of part of a text; different; alternative: a variant reading.

not universally accepted.

noun

a person or thing that varies.

a different spelling, pronunciation, or form of the same word: “Vehemency” is a variant of “vehemence.”

Microbiology, Pathology. a form of a virus, bacterium, or other microorganism that arises from a strain of the microorganism when a mutation changes a small part of the strain’s genetic code.Compare strain² (def. 5).

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Origin of variant

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English variaunt(e), variant(e) “undergoing change, tending to change, changeable,” from Old French, from Latin variant-, stem of variāns, present participle of variāre “to mark or adorn with different colors”; cf. various; see -ant

OTHER WORDS FROM variant

non·var·i·ant, adjective, nounun·var·i·ant, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH variant

variable, variant

Words nearby variant

variable region, variable resistor, variable star, varia lectio, variance, variant, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, variate, variation, varication, variceal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for variant

Tadge Juechter will remain executive chief engineer for Global Corvette and will continue to lead the team as new variants hit the market.
GM shifts Corvette engineering team to its electric and autonomous vehicle programs|Kirsten Korosec|August 28, 2020|TechCrunch
A smattering of all water molecules on Earth contain a heavy variant of hydrogen known as deuterium.
Earth’s building blocks may have had far more water than previously thought|Christopher Crockett|August 27, 2020|Science News
About a quarter of elite controllers have genetic variants in key immune system genes that may help them get a handle on the virus, says Joseph Wong, a virologist at the University of California, San Francisco.
In a first, a person’s immune system fought HIV — and won|Tina Hesman Saey|August 26, 2020|Science News
Not all close variants are poor matches, but many do see meaningfully different performance than true exact and phrase matches on the non-brand side.
2020 Google paid search trends that have nothing to do with the pandemic|Andy Taylor|August 25, 2020|Search Engine Land

For example, a promising pro-youth gene variant can be genetically edited into mice using CRISPR or some other tool.
The Secret to a Long, Healthy Life Is in the Genes of the Oldest Humans Alive|Shelly Fan|August 10, 2020|Singularity Hub
There we were to watch a game of buzkashi, a much more violent variant of polo played by Uzbeks and other Afghans.
The Warlord Who Defines Afghanistan: An Excerpt From Bruce Riedel’s ’What We Won’|Bruce Riedel|July 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All of these will end with some variant of the following: Ms. Pembreteaux laughed, then shrugged.
Let’s Lay Out the Odds on Your Crazy Summer|Kelly Williams Brown|May 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Many of the gender-variant male types were stigmatized; being regarded as women was hardly an elevation in social status.
Why Africa’s Turning Anti-Gay|Jay Michaelson|March 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Instead, Chris indulged in the MSNBC variant of epistemic closure.
My Pushback to Chris Hayes|David Frum|September 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Now she is back with a new variant today, but this one actually makes more sense.
Maureen Dowd Can Be Right, Too|Michael Tomasky|May 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
On the other hand, no continental variant appears to contain the sea-maiden episodes.
The Three Days' Tournament|Jessie L. Weston
I do not think that Lancelot was ab origine the hero of a variant of this popular and widely-spread folk-tale.
The Three Days' Tournament|Jessie L. Weston
Minor printer's errors have been corrected, but variant and irregular spellings are retained.
The Art of Drinking|Georg Gottfried Gervinus
He indicated one of the variant-tapes being slowly reversed across the relays.
We're Friends, Now|Henry Hasse
Where several variant spellings were used, the most prevalent version was use to standardize them.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume VII (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

British Dictionary definitions for variant

variant

/ (ˈvɛərɪənt) /

adjective

liable to or displaying variation

differing from a standard or typea variant spelling

obsolete not constant; fickle

noun

something that differs from a standard or type

statistics another word for variate (def. 1)

Word Origin for variant

C14: via Old French from Latin variāns, from variāre to diversify, from varius various

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for variant

variant

[ vâr′ē-ənt, văr′- ]

adj.

Having or exhibiting variation; differing.

Tending or liable to vary; variable.

Deviating from a standard, usually by only a slight difference.

n.

Something that differs in form only slightly from something else.

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Origin of variant

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British Dictionary definitions for variant

adjective

noun

Word Origin for variant

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adj.

n.

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variant

adjective

noun

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Words related to variant

Example sentences from the Web for variant

British Dictionary definitions for variant

adjective

noun

Word Origin for variant

Medical definitions for variant

adj.

n.