variation

American  

[vair-ee-ey-shuhn] / ˌvɛər iˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

• variations
  plural

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 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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• variations
  plural

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

Explanation

Variation means a deviation from the norm, like the variation of colors in nature. A variation from an accepted standard can be very important. For example, a variation in a heartbeat pattern can tell a doctor that a heart attack might be imminent. The variation in weather temperatures from what is expected indicates that our climate is changing due to global warming. But not all variation is a bad thing. For example, even within breeds, there is a wide variation in the coloration of dogs, a trait that makes each puppy uniquely lovable.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

variation variations

“It’s sort of a variation on what we already know,” says Morris of learning to work the projector.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

And that “average” return figure masks a lot of variation.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

The variation in standards and schedules across different index providers means you could end up with a patchwork.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

This allowed the team to remove much of the environmental variation that complicates cancer studies involving humans.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

Aru hated that question and every variation of it.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

London is an outlier with an average disposable income of more than £36,000 per head although there are very large variations between London's boroughs.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

“Its in-house TPU program has been very successful, and they will create multiple variations of that program,” Luria said in emailed comments.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

In the years since the watch first landed on the moon, the brand has produced a number of variations on the Speedmaster, which is where the Reduced comes in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

For many years, scientists studying small variations in that field concluded that much of the outer core was flowing mainly westward.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

They had to learn to recognize the same sound or speech unit through all our normal variations in speech volume, pitch, speed, emphasis, phrase grouping, and individual idiosyncrasies of pronunciation.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

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