variation

Etymology

From Middle French variation, from Old French variacion, from Latin variātiō, from vary +‎ -ation.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌvɛəɹɪˈeɪʃn̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌvɛəɹiˈeɪʃn̩/, /ˌvæɹiˈeɪʃn̩/, /ˌvɛɹiˈeɪʃn̩/

• Audio (US, Mary–marry–merry merger):

  (file)

• Audio (US, without the Mary–marry–merry merger):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: va‧ri‧a‧tion

Noun

variation (usually uncountable, plural variations)

1. The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing.
   • 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

     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.

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

   All of his soups are variations on a single recipe.

   • 2020 May 10, “Cultivation Experience of a Young Practitioner Born in the 90s”, in Minghui‎:

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

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

   Synonym: magnetic declination

4. (board games) A line of play that differs from the original.
5. (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.
6. (genetics) The modification of a hereditary trait.
7. (astronomy) Deviation from the mean orbit of a heavenly body.
8. (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.

References

• US FM 55-501 MARINE CREWMAN’S HANDBOOK; 1 December 1999
• “variation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “variation”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin variātiōnem. See also véraison.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /va.ʁja.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

variation f (plural variations)

1. variation

Further reading

• “variation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.