variation

American  

[vair-ee-ey-shuhn] / ˌvɛər iˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act, process, or accident of varying in condition, character, or degree.

   Prices are subject to variation.

   Synonyms:

   difference, divergence, deviation, modification, alteration, mutation

2. an instance of this.

   There is a variation in the quality of fabrics in this shipment.

3. amount, rate, extent, or degree of change.

   a temperature variation of 40° in a particular climate.

4. a different form of something; variant.

5. Music.

   1. the transformation of a melody or theme with changes or elaborations in harmony, rhythm, and melody.

   2. a varied vary form of a melody or theme, especially one of a series of such forms developing the capacities of the subject.

6. Ballet. a solo dance, especially one forming a section of a pas de deux.

7. Astronomy. any deviation from the mean orbit of a heavenly body, especially of a planetary or satellite orbit.

8. Also called magnetic declination,.  Also called magnetic variation.  Navigation. the angle between the geographic and the magnetic meridian at a given point, expressed in plus degrees east or minus degrees west of true north.

9. Biology. a difference or deviation in structure or character from others of the same species or group.

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variation British  

/ ˌvɛərɪˈeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act, process, condition, or result of changing or varying; diversity

2. an instance of varying or the amount, rate, or degree of such change

3. something that differs from a standard or convention

4. music

   1. a repetition of a musical theme in which the rhythm, harmony, or melody is altered or embellished

   2. ( as modifier )

      variation form

5. biology

   1. a marked deviation from the typical form or function

   2. a characteristic or an organism showing this deviation

6. astronomy any change in or deviation from the mean motion or orbit of a planet, satellite, etc, esp a perturbation of the moon

7. another word for magnetic declination

8. ballet a solo dance

9. linguistics any form of morphophonemic change, such as one involved in inflection, conjugation, or vowel mutation

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Other Word Forms

• intervariation noun
• nonvariation noun
• overvariation noun
• prevariation noun
• self-variation noun
• variational adjective
• variationally adverb
• variative adjective
• variatively adverb

Etymology

Origin of variation

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Latin variātiōn-, stem of variātiō; equivalent to variate + -ion; replacing Middle English variacioun, from Anglo-French, from Latin, as above

Example Sentences

The team noted that this hand stencil stands out as a unique variation of a common motif.

From Science Daily • Mar. 22, 2026

Lately, though, I have found myself wondering about a small variation on this idea.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026

This has enriched rare functional variation, including recessive disorders and homozygous loss-of-function mutations, or “human knockouts.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

It is also a different variation than the ones found in dairy cows and commercial poultry.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026

“Strobe variation, I would guess. Very high frequency.”

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

Related Words

• abnormality
• alteration
• change
• deviation
• discrepancy
• disparity
• divergence
• diversity
• fluctuation
• innovation
• modification
• mutation
• shift
• variety