variation

[vair-ee-ey-shuhn]

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.

variation

/ 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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of variation¹

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

The first two films, directed by James Wan, ingeniously engaged with many variations on the idea of vision: physical, psychic and through a camera’s lens.

From Los Angeles Times

She was reinstated, but amid a number of 'false positives', and fears that female athletes were being punished for natural variations, gender verification tests were abolished in the 1990s.

From BBC

Recipes are dissected, starters replicated, variations posted online within hours.

From Salon

The worst comments were saved for Black men and women, who the officers repeatedly called “savages” or referred to with variations of the N-word.

From Los Angeles Times

The man involved does not use his name on his social media accounts, which all have a variation of the phrase Skydive_Kenya.

From BBC

Related Words

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