# variation

Pronunciation: US say "vair-ee-AY-shuhn" /ˌvɛəɹiˈeɪʃn̩/; UK say "vair-i-AY-shuhn" /ˌvɛəɹɪˈeɪʃn̩/

## Noun

1. A partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of something.
   - Simple: A small change in the way something looks, works, or is arranged.
   - _The recipe allows for considerable variation depending on the season._
   - _Slight variation in the manufacturing process led to inconsistent results._
2. A thing that is related to another but differs from it in some way.
   - Simple: Something that is like another thing but not exactly the same.
   - _The designer presented a variation of the classic armchair._
   - _Folk songs often survive as many regional variations._
3. A musical technique in which a theme is repeated with changes to melody, harmony, rhythm, or texture while some element stays constant.
   - Simple: A way of playing the same tune again with changes, while keeping one part the same.
   - _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._
4. A change in a hereditary trait, such as one passed between parents and their offspring.
   - Simple: A change in a feature that living things pass on to their young.
   - _Genetic variation within a population drives the process of natural selection._
   - _Researchers tracked variations in coat color across several generations of mice._
5. A 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.
   - Simple: When people can use two different words or sounds for the same thing without changing the meaning.
   - _Sociolinguists study variation in how different communities pronounce the same vowels._
   - _The two spellings represent free variation rather than any real difference in sense._
6. A line of play in a game that differs from the original or main sequence of moves.
   - Simple: A different way of playing through a game from the usual one.
   - _The grandmaster prepared a sharp variation against the Sicilian Defense._
   - _Opening manuals list dozens of variations for each main line._
7. A deviation of a celestial body from its mean, or average, orbital path.
   - Simple: The amount a moon or planet drifts away from its normal path through space.
   - _The moon's variation arises chiefly from the sun's gravitational pull._
   - _Newton sought to explain the periodic variations in lunar motion._
8. In navigation, the angle by which magnetic north differs from true north at the place where a ship is.
   - Simple: The difference in angle between true north and the north a compass points to.
   - _Before plotting the course, the mate checked the variation marked on the chart._
   - _Magnetic variation increases sharply as ships sail toward the poles._

## Origin

This word came into English through Middle French "variation" and Old French "variacion," from Latin "variātiō," formed from "vary" plus the suffix "-ation."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/variation (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).