variant

[ vair-ee-uhnt ]
See synonyms for: variantvariants on Thesaurus.com

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.

  1. not definitive, as a version of part of a text; different; alternative: a variant reading.

  2. 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.”

  1. 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 strain2 (def. 5).

Origin of variant

1
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”; cf. various; see -ant

Other words from variant

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

Words that may be confused with variant

Words Nearby variant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use variant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for variant

variant

/ (ˈvɛərɪənt) /


adjective
  1. liable to or displaying variation

  2. differing from a standard or type: a variant spelling

  1. obsolete not constant; fickle

noun
  1. something that differs from a standard or type

  2. statistics another word for variate (def. 1)

Origin of variant

1
C14: via Old French from Latin variāns, from variāre to diversify, from varius various

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012