/ English Dictionary |
VARIATION
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An activity that varies from a norm or standard
Example:
any variation in his routine was immediately reported
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("variation" is a kind of...):
activity (any specific behavior)
Derivation:
vary (be at variance with; be out of line with)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The act of changing or altering something slightly but noticeably from the norm or standard
Example:
who is responsible for these variations in taxation?
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("variation" is a kind of...):
change (the action of changing something)
Derivation:
vary (make something more diverse and varied)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(ballet) a solo dance or dance figure
Synonyms:
pas seul; variation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("variation" is a kind of...):
dance; dancing; saltation; terpsichore (taking a series of rhythmical steps (and movements) in time to music)
Domain category:
ballet; concert dance (a theatrical representation of a story that is performed to music by trained dancers)
Sense 4
Meaning:
An artifact that deviates from a norm or standard
Example:
he patented a variation on the sandal
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("variation" is a kind of...):
thing (an artifact)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "variation"):
bastard; mongrel (derogatory term for a variation that is not genuine; something irregular or inferior or of dubious origin)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Something a little different from others of the same type
Example:
the boy is a younger edition of his father
Synonyms:
edition; variant; variation; version
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("variation" is a kind of...):
type (a subdivision of a particular kind of thing)
Derivation:
vary (become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence)
Sense 6
Meaning:
A repetition of a musical theme in which it is modified or embellished
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("variation" is a kind of...):
idea; melodic theme; musical theme; theme ((music) melodic subject of a musical composition)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "variation"):
inversion ((counterpoint) a variation of a melody or part in which ascending intervals are replaced by descending intervals and vice versa)
partita (one of the variations contained in a partita)
Sense 7
Meaning:
An instance of change; the rate or magnitude of change
Synonyms:
fluctuation; variation
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("variation" is a kind of...):
alteration; change; modification (an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "variation"):
vicissitude (a variation in circumstances or fortune at different times in your life or in the development of something)
allomerism ((chemistry) variability in chemical composition without variation in crystalline form)
departure; deviation; difference; divergence (a variation that deviates from the standard or norm)
permutation; replacement; substitution; switch; transposition (an event in which one thing is substituted for another)
business cycle; trade cycle (recurring fluctuations in economic activity consisting of recession and recovery and growth and decline)
daily variation (fluctuations that occur between one day and the next)
diurnal variation (fluctuations that occur during each day)
tide (something that may increase or decrease (like the tides of the sea))
Derivation:
vary (be subject to change in accordance with a variable)
Sense 8
Meaning:
(biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration
Synonyms:
mutant; mutation; sport; variation
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("variation" is a kind of...):
being; organism (a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently)
Domain category:
biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "variation"):
freak; lusus naturae; monster; monstrosity (a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed)
Derivation:
vary (be at variance with; be out of line with)
Sense 9
Meaning:
(astronomy) any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite (especially a perturbation of the earth's moon)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural phenomena
Hypernyms ("variation" is a kind of...):
perturbation ((physics) a secondary influence on a system that causes it to deviate slightly)
Domain category:
astronomy; uranology (the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "variation"):
libration ((astronomy) a real or apparent slow oscillation of a moon or satellite)
Derivation:
vary (be at variance with; be out of line with)
vary (be subject to change in accordance with a variable)
Sense 10
Meaning:
The process of varying or being varied
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("variation" is a kind of...):
physical process; process (a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "variation"):
covariation ((statistics) correlated variation)
Sense 11
Meaning:
The angle (at a particular location) between magnetic north and true north
Synonyms:
magnetic declination; magnetic variation; variation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes
Hypernyms ("variation" is a kind of...):
angle (the space between two lines or planes that intersect; the inclination of one line to another; measured in degrees or radians)
Derivation:
vary (be subject to change in accordance with a variable)
Context examples:
All these variations would have different effects on the flow of any gases over its surface.
(Simulations show planet orbiting Proxima Centauri could have liquid water, Wikinews)
Any variation from the normal rate or rhythm (which may include the origin of the impulse and/or its subsequent propagation) in the heart.
(Arrhythmia, NCI Thesaurus)
A variation in the dimensions of the uterus.
(Change in Uterine Shape, NCI Thesaurus)
Variation in the number of copies of a particular sequence within the genetic material of an individual.
(Copy Number Polymorphism, NCI Thesaurus)
Genetic variation may play a role in Alzheimer's disease.
(CLU wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)
Genetic variation is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
(MTNR1B wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)
Genetic variation may be associated with Alzheimer disease.
(MTHFD1L wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)
Woman's usual occupations of hand and mind will be as open to me then as they are now; or with no important variation.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
The investigation of variations of DNA and RNA characteristics as related to drug response.
(Pharmacogenomics, NCI Thesaurus)
Two days passed away from the time of Mr. Palmer's departure, and her situation continued, with little variation, the same.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)