Variation

Quick meaning: Variation is a noun meaning The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing.

Meaning

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

More Meanings

1. A related but distinct thing.
2. (nautical) The angular difference at the vessel between the direction of true north and magnetic north.
3. (board games) A line of play that differs from the original.
4. (genetics) The modification of a hereditary trait.
5. (astronomy) Deviation from the mean orbit of a heavenly body.
6. (music) 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.
7. (linguistics) 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.

Example Sentences

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

All of his soups are variations on a single recipe.

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

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.

Word Forms

• variations

Synonyms for variation

Depending on context, synonyms include variance, version, variant, fluctuation.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include variance, variant, version, fluctuation, variable, variability.

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