Variation

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: var=i=a=tion

CIDE DICTIONARY

Variation, n. [OE. variatioun, F. variation, L. variatio. See Vary.].

•  The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing; modification; alteration; mutation; diversity; deviation; as, a variation of color in different lights; a variation in size; variation of language.  [1913 Webster]

  "The essences of things are conceived not capable of any such variation."  [1913 Webster]
•  Extent to which a thing varies; amount of departure from a position or state; amount or rate of change.  [1913 Webster]
•  Change of termination of words, as in declension, conjugation, derivation, etc.  [1913 Webster]
•  Repetition of a theme or melody with fanciful embellishments or modifications, in time, tune, or harmony, or sometimes change of key; the presentation of a musical thought in new and varied aspects, yet so that the essential features of the original shall still preserve their identity.  [1913 Webster]
•  One of the different arrangements which can be made of any number of quantities taking a certain number of them together.  [1913 Webster]

Annual variation (Astron.), the yearly change in the right ascension or declination of a star, produced by the combined effects of the precession of the equinoxes and the proper motion of the star. -- Calculus of variations. See under Calculus. -- Variation compass. See under Compass. -- Variation of the moon (Astron.), an inequality of the moon's motion, depending on the angular distance of the moon from the sun. It is greater at the octants, and zero at the quadratures. -- Variation of the needle (Geog. & Naut.), the angle included between the true and magnetic meridians of a place; the deviation of the direction of a magnetic needle from the true north and south line; -- called also declination of the needle.

Syn. -- Change; vicissitude; variety; deviation.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Variation, n.
1 the act or an instance of varying.
2 departure from a former or normal condition, action, or amount, or from a standard or type (prices are subject to variation).
3 the extent of this.
4 a thing that varies from a type.
5 Mus. a repetition (usu. one of several) of a theme in a changed or elaborated form.
6 Astron. a deviation of a heavenly body from its mean orbit or motion.
7 Math. a change in a function etc. due to small changes in the values of constants etc.
8 Ballet a solo dance.

Derivative

variational adj.

Etymology

ME f. OF variation or L variatio (as VARY)

THESAURUS

Variation

Nachtmusik, Proteus, aberrancy, aberration, about-face, absolute music, accommodation, adaptation, adjustment, air varie, aleatory, aleatory music, allotropism, allotropy, alteration, altering, alternation, amelioration, anacrusis, analysis, anatomization, apostasy, arrangement, atomization, bass passage, bend, betterment, bias, bourdon, branching off, break, bridge, burden, cadence, capriciousness, chamber music, chamber orchestra, change, change of heart, change of pace, changeability, changeableness, changing, choice, choppiness, chorus, circuitousness, coda, composition, constructive change, continuity, contrariety, contrast, conversion, corner, crook, curve, dappleness, declination, defection, deflection, degeneration, degenerative change, demarcation, departure, descant, desultoriness, desynonymization, deterioration, detour, development, deviability, deviance, deviancy, deviation, deviousness, difference, differencing, differentiation, differing, digression, disaccord, disaccordance, disagreement, disconformity, discongruity, discontinuity, discordance, discrepancy, discreteness, discrimination, discursion, disequalization, disjunction, disorder, disparity, dissent, dissimilarity, dissonance, distinction, distinctness, distinguishment, divagation, divarication, divergence, divergency, diversification, diversion, diversity, division, dogleg, double, drift, drifting, eccentricity, electronic music, errantry, erraticism, etude, excursion, excursus, exercise, exorbitation, exposition, far cry, fickleness, figure, fitting, flightiness, flip-flop, fluctuation, folderol, freakishness, gradual change, hairpin, harmonic close, harmonization, her infinite variety, heterogeneity, heteromorphism, improvement, impulsiveness, inaccordance, incidental music, incompatibility, incongruity, inconsistency, inconsonance, inconstancy, indirection, individualization, individuation, inequality, inharmoniousness, inharmony, instability, instrumental music, interlude, intermezzo, introductory phrase, invention, irreconcilability, irregularity, jerkiness, manifoldness, measure, melioration, mercuriality, mitigation, mixture, modification, modifying, modulation, moodiness, motleyness, movement, multifariousness, multiplicity, musical phrase, musical sentence, mutability, mutation, nocturne, nonconformism, nonconformity, nonstandardization, nonuniformity, novelty, obliquity, odds, omnifariousness, omniformity, opposition, opus, orchestration, ornament, oscillation, otherness, overthrow, part, particularization, passage, pendulation, pererration, period, permutation, personalization, phrase, piece, pluralism, polymorphism, production, program music, qualification, radical change, raggedness, rambling, re-creation, realignment, redesign, reform, reformation, refrain, remaking, renewal, reshaping, resolution, response, restlessness, restructuring, reversal, revival, revivification, revolution, ricercar, ritornello, score, section, seesawing, segregation, separateness, separation, severalization, severance, shapeshifter, sheer, shift, shiftiness, shifting, shifting course, shifting path, shuffling, skew, slant, sonata, sonatina, specialization, stanza, statement, strain, straying, string orchestra, string quartet, study, sudden change, sweep, swerve, swerving, swinging, switch, tack, tailpiece, teeter-tottering, teetering, theme and variations, total change, tottering, transition, trio, turn, turnabout, turning, tutti, tutti passage, twist, uncertainty, unconformism, unconformity, undependability, unfixedness, unlikeness, unorthodoxy, unpredictability, unreliability, unsettledness, unstableness, unsteadfastness, unsteadiness, upheaval, vacillation, variability, variance, variegation, variety, variousness, varying, veer, versatility, verse, vicissitude, violent change, wandering, wantonness, warp, wavering, waywardness, whimsicality, work, worsening, yaw, zigzag

ROGET THESAURUS

Variation

Difference

N difference, variance, variation, variety, diversity, dissimilarity, disagreement, disparity, distinction, contradistinction, alteration, modification, permutation, moods and tenses, nice distinction, fine distinction, delicate distinction, subtle distinction, shade of difference, nuance, discrimination, differentia, different thing, something else, apple off another tree, another pair of shoes, horse of a different color, this that or the other, differing, different, diverse, heterogeneous, multifarious, polyglot, distinguishable, dissimilar, varied, modified, diversified, various, divers, all manner of, all kinds of, variform, daedal, other, another, not the same, unequal, unmatched, widely apart, poles apart, distinctive, characteristic, discriminative, distinguishing, incommensurable, incommensurate, differently, il y a fagots et fagots.

Dissimilarity

N dissimilarity, dissimilaritude, unlikeness, diversity, disparity, dissemblance, divergence, variation, difference, novelty, originality, creativeness, oogamy, dissimilar, unlike, disparate, divergent, of a different kind, unmatched, unique, new, novel, unprecedented, original, nothing of the kind, no such thing, quite another thing, far from it, cast in a different mold, tertium quid, as like a dock as a daisy, very like a whale, as different as chalk from cheese, as different as Macedon and Monmouth, lucus a non lucendo, diversified, otherwise, diis aliter visum, no more like my father than I to Hercules.

Variation

N variation, alteration, modification, moods and tenses, discrepance, discrepancy, divergency, deviation, aberration, innovation, varied, modified, diversified.

Number

N number, symbol, numeral, figure, cipher, digit, integer, counter, round number, formula, function, series, sum, difference, complement, subtrahend, product, multiplicand, multiplier, multiplicator, coefficient, multiple, dividend, divisor, factor, quotient, submultiple, fraction, rational number, surd, irrational number, transcendental number, mixed number, complex number, complex conjugate, numerator, denominator, decimal, circulating decimal, repetend, common measure, aliquot part, prime number, prime, relative prime, prime factor, prime pair, reciprocal, totient, binary number, octal number, hexadecimal number, permutation, combination, variation, election, ratio, proportion, comparison, progression, arithmetical progression, geometrical progression, harmonical progression, percentage, permilage, figurate numbers, pyramidal numbers, polygonal numbers, power, root, exponent, index, logarithm, antilogarithm, modulus, base, differential, integral, fluxion, fluent, numeral, complementary, divisible, aliquot, reciprocal, prime, relatively prime, fractional, decimal, figurate, incommensurable, proportional, exponential, logarithmic, logometric, differential, fluxional, integral, totitive, positive, negative, rational, irrational, surd, radical, real, complex, imaginary, finite, infinite, impossible, numerically, modulo.

Change

N change, alteration, mutation, permutation, variation, modification, modulation, inflexion, mood, qualification, innovation, metastasis, deviation, turn, evolution, revolution, diversion, break, transformation, transfiguration, metamorphosis, transmutation, deoxidization, transubstantiation, mutagenesis transanimation, transmigration, metempsychosis, avatar, alterative, conversion, revolution &c (sudden or radical change), inversion, displacement, transference, changeableness, tergiversation, changed, newfangled, changeable, transitional, modifiable, alterative, mutatis mutandis, Int, quantum mutatus!, a change came o'er the spirit of my dream, nous avons change tout cela, tempora mutantur nos et mutamur in illis, non sum qualis eram, casaque tourner, corpora lente augescent cito extinguuntur, in statu quo ante bellum, still ending and beginning still, vox audita perit littera scripta manet.