variant

[ vair-ee-uhnt ]

adjective

1. tending to change or alter; exhibiting variety or diversity; varying:

   variant shades of color.

2. not agreeing or conforming; differing, especially from something of the same general kind.
3. not definitive, as a version of part of a text; different; alternative:

   a variant reading.

4. not universally accepted.

noun

1. a person or thing that varies.
2. a different spelling, pronunciation, or form of the same word:

   “Vehemency” is a variant of “vehemence.”

3. Microbiology, Pathology. a form of a virus, bacterium, or other microorganism that arises from a strain of the microorganism when a mutation changes a small part of the strain’s genetic code. Compare strain ²( def 5 ).

variant

/ ˈvɛərɪənt /

adjective

1. liable to or displaying variation
2. differing from a standard or type

   a variant spelling

3. obsolete.
   not constant; fickle

noun

1. something that differs from a standard or type
2. statistics another word for variate

Other Words From

• non·var·i·ant adjective noun
• un·var·i·ant adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of variant¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English variaunt(e), variant(e) “undergoing change, tending to change, changeable,” from Old French, from Latin variant-, stem of variāns, present participle of variāre “to mark or adorn with different colors”; various; -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of variant¹

C14: via Old French from Latin variāns, from variāre to diversify, from varius various

Example Sentences

In general, there are two basic variants for image processing.

From Science Daily

Their research was motivated by the question of why mutant variants of bacteria do not proliferate and take over the population once they have developed an antibiotic-resistant advantage.

From Science Daily

The person diagnosed with the Clade I variant is isolating at home and recovering, while people who had close contact with the person are being notified by public health officials.

From Los Angeles Times

"That's the power of this approach -- once you have an atlas of genetic variants, and that of the protein levels, you can apply this to any disease," he said.

From Science Daily

This material features amines that capture the CO2; next-generation variants are being tested as alternatives to aqueous amines for CO2 capture in pilot-scale plants, and as a way to capture CO2 directly from ambient air.

From Science Daily