variation

American  

[vair-ee-ey-shuhn] / ˌvɛər iˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act, process, or accident of varying in condition, character, or degree.

   Prices are subject to variation.

   Synonyms:

   difference, divergence, deviation, modification, alteration, mutation

2. an instance of this.

   There is a variation in the quality of fabrics in this shipment.

3. amount, rate, extent, or degree of change.

   a temperature variation of 40° in a particular climate.

4. a different form of something; variant.

5. Music.

   1. the transformation of a melody or theme with changes or elaborations in harmony, rhythm, and melody.

   2. a varied vary form of a melody or theme, especially one of a series of such forms developing the capacities of the subject.

6. Ballet. a solo dance, especially one forming a section of a pas de deux.

7. Astronomy. any deviation from the mean orbit of a heavenly body, especially of a planetary or satellite orbit.

8. Also called magnetic declination,.  Also called magnetic variation.  Navigation. the angle between the geographic and the magnetic meridian at a given point, expressed in plus degrees east or minus degrees west of true north.

9. Biology. a difference or deviation in structure or character from others of the same species or group.

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variation British  

/ ˌvɛərɪˈeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act, process, condition, or result of changing or varying; diversity

2. an instance of varying or the amount, rate, or degree of such change

3. something that differs from a standard or convention

4. music

   1. a repetition of a musical theme in which the rhythm, harmony, or melody is altered or embellished

   2. ( as modifier )

      variation form

5. biology

   1. a marked deviation from the typical form or function

   2. a characteristic or an organism showing this deviation

6. astronomy any change in or deviation from the mean motion or orbit of a planet, satellite, etc, esp a perturbation of the moon

7. another word for magnetic declination

8. ballet a solo dance

9. linguistics any form of morphophonemic change, such as one involved in inflection, conjugation, or vowel mutation

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Other Word Forms

• intervariation noun
• nonvariation noun
• overvariation noun
• prevariation noun
• self-variation noun
• variational adjective
• variationally adverb
• variative adjective
• variatively adverb

Etymology

Origin of variation

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Latin variātiōn-, stem of variātiō; equivalent to variate + -ion; replacing Middle English variacioun, from Anglo-French, from Latin, as above

Example Sentences

Instead, it reveals that dogs were already showing substantial physical variation thousands of years ago, not long after they split from wolves.

From Science Daily

They reveal variations in how current large language models deal with public content.

From Salon

The gene was located within a stretch of DNA that explained nearly 20 percent of the variation in attention among the mice.

From Science Daily

"We found remarkable variation in how populations evolved in variable environments," the researchers reported.

From Science Daily

According to the study's lead author, these variations are closely tied to Greenland's geological journey across a powerful volcanic region in the past.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• abnormality
• alteration
• change
• deviation
• discrepancy
• disparity
• divergence
• diversity
• fluctuation
• innovation
• modification
• mutation
• shift
• variety