variation — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.

2. A related but distinct thing.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

   Examples

   When the process didn't work, we tried a variation.

   All of his soups are variations on a single recipe.

   More examples (1)

   Selfishness has different variations, but in the end it is all the same.

3. The angular difference at the vessel between the direction of true north and magnetic north.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

   Synonyms

   magnetic declination

4. A line of play that differs from the original.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

5. A technique where material is repeated with alterations to the melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, texture, counterpoint or orchestration; but with some invariant characteristic, e.g. a ground bass.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

6. The modification of a hereditary trait.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

7. Deviation from the mean orbit of a heavenly body.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

8. The situation where two or more linguistic forms appear in the same environment without a change in meaning, the choice of form being determined by factors of dialect, sociolect, register or simply the speaker's preference.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

9. An infinitesimal perturbation applied to a function, typically denoted δf, used to probe how a functional changes.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

10. The corresponding first-order change in a functional induced by such a perturbation, typically denoted δJ[f] and called the first variation.

    Usage

    • Uncountable
    • usually

Noun

1. an instance of change; the rate or magnitude of change

   Synonyms

   fluctuation

   Broader terms

   changealterationmodification

2. an activity that varies from a norm or standard

   Synonyms

   variance

   Broader terms

   activity

   Examples

   any variation in his routine was immediately reported

3. a repetition of a musical theme in which it is modified or embellished

   Broader terms

   thememelodic thememusical themeidea

4. something a little different from others of the same type

   Synonyms

   versionvariantedition

   Broader terms

   type

   Examples

   an experimental version of the night fighter

   a variant of the same word

   More examples (2)

   an emery wheel is the modern variation of a grindstone

   the boy is a younger edition of his father

5. an artifact that deviates from a norm or standard

   Broader terms

   thing

   Examples

   he patented a variation on the sandal

6. the angle (at a particular location) between magnetic north and true north

   Synonyms

   magnetic declinationmagnetic variation

   Broader terms

   angle

7. the process of varying or being varied

   Broader terms

   processphysical process

8. (astronomy) any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite (especially a perturbation of the earth's moon)

   Broader terms

   perturbation

9. (biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration

   Synonyms

   mutantmutationsport

   Broader terms

   organismbeing

10. (ballet) a solo dance or dance figure

    Synonyms

    pas seul

    Broader terms

    dancingdanceterpsichoresaltation

11. the act of changing or altering something slightly but noticeably from the norm or standard

    Broader terms

    change

    Examples

    who is responsible for these variations in taxation?