variation
- 1A partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of something.
The recipe allows for considerable variation depending on the season.
Slight variation in the manufacturing process led to inconsistent results.
Similarvariance, change, fluctuation, difference, deviation
Oppositeuniformity, consistency, constancy, sameness
Note
The general meaning that the specialized ones narrow from. It came through Middle French and Old French from Latin variātiō, built from vary plus -ation. Here it is usually uncountable, a matter of degree rather than a thing you count. That is why it pairs with words like considerable, slight or genetic instead of with a or many.
- 2A thing that is related to another but differs from it in some way.
The designer presented a variation of the classic armchair.
Folk songs often survive as many regional variations.
Similarvariant, version, adaptation, take
Oppositeoriginal
Note
Here the word names something you can count and set beside the original: one version among several. The usual preposition is on, as in variations on a single recipe. The act of varying measures how much something changes, while this meaning names the finished result you can point to.
- 3A musical technique in which a theme is repeated with changes to melody, harmony, rhythm, or texture while some element stays constant.
The composer wrote six variations on a simple children's song.
In this variation, the melody remains but the harmony shifts to a minor key.
Note
In music the word names both the technique and each episode it produces. A theme is stated, then returns in altered guises, with new harmony, rhythm, texture or orchestration. Something must stay fixed so the ear can follow, such as a ground bass repeated beneath changing upper parts. Composers title such sets variations on a theme, borrowing the countable use of a related but distinct thing.
- 4A change in a hereditary trait, such as one passed between parents and their offspring.
Genetic variation within a population drives the process of natural selection.
Researchers tracked variations in coat color across several generations of mice.
Similardiversity, variability, difference
Oppositeuniformity
Note
Biologists use it for the heritable differences among individuals in a population, which are the raw material that natural selection works on. These differences arise through mutation, recombination and gene flow. The standard collocation is genetic variation. It is usually uncountable and is measured across a population rather than within a single organism.
- 5A situation in which two or more linguistic forms occur in the same environment without a difference in meaning, the choice depending on dialect, register, or speaker preference.
Sociolinguists study variation in how different communities pronounce the same vowels.
The two spellings represent free variation rather than any real difference in sense.
Note
Linguists set this against contrast. If swapping two forms changes the meaning, they are different words; if it does not, they are in variation. The alternating forms may be sounds, word endings or whole words. The choice between them follows dialect, register or personal habit rather than grammar. Free variation is the usual term when nothing but preference decides.
- 6A line of play in a game that differs from the original or main sequence of moves.
The grandmaster prepared a sharp variation against the Sicilian Defense.
Opening manuals list dozens of variations for each main line.
Similarline
Note
Chess players think of the main line as a trunk and each variation as a branch from it. A variation is an alternative continuation that may improve on established theory, equalize the game, or deliberately complicate the position. Opening study is organized around these branches, which is why players speak of preparing a variation against a particular defense.
- 7A deviation of a celestial body from its mean, or average, orbital path.
The moon's variation arises chiefly from the sun's gravitational pull.
Newton sought to explain the periodic variations in lunar motion.
Similarperturbation, deviation
Note
Celestial mechanics treats it as the mark of perturbation: the gravity of other bodies pulls a planet or moon away from its computed mean orbit. Lunar theory also uses the word as a name for one specific periodic inequality in the Moon's longitude, caused chiefly by the sun. So the moon's variation can mean a single named effect, not just any irregularity.
- 8In navigation, the angle by which magnetic north differs from true north at the place where a ship is.
Before plotting the course, the mate checked the variation marked on the chart.
Magnetic variation increases sharply as ships sail toward the poles.
Similardeclination
Note
Navigators use it for what is also called magnetic declination. The compass points to magnetic north and the chart to true north. The angle between them, given as east or west, must be applied to a compass bearing before it can be laid on the chart. It is marked on charts because its value depends on where the vessel is.
Practice
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Origin
This word came into English through Middle French "variation" and Old French "variacion," from Latin "variātiō," formed from "vary" plus the suffix "-ation."