vario-

1. a combining form representing various, variable, and variety in compound words:

   variform.

vario-

combining_form

1. indicating variety or difference

   variometer

Word History and Origins

Origin of vario-¹

from Latin varius various

Example Sentences

Mr. Sorvino had been cast as the stately but menacing mob boss Paulie Cicero, a character based on convicted mobster Paul Vario, and was having trouble with the role.

From Washington Post

Martin Scorsese tapped Sorvino at age 50 to play Cicero, a quiet but formidable character based on the real-life mobster Paul Vario, in 1990's "Goodfellas."

From Reuters

In “Wise Guy,” the nonfiction book that was the basis of “Goodfellas,” the author Nick Pileggi wrote, “It was understood on the street that Paul Vario” — the mobster’s surname was changed for the movie — “ran one of New York’s toughest and most violent gangs.”

From New York Times

In the Brownsville-East New York area of the city, “the body counts were always high, and in the 1960s and 1970s the Vario thugs did most of the strong-arm work,” Pileggi explained, adding later, “There were always some heads to be bashed on picket lines, businessmen to be squeezed into making their loan-shark payments, independents to be straightened out over territorial lines, potential witnesses to be murdered, and stool pigeons to be buried.”

From New York Times

Vario, then, was a middle manager of mayhem.

From New York Times