variety definition

English

Alternative forms

• variëty (rare)

Etymology

From Middle French varieté, from Latin varietās (“difference, diversity”), from varius (“different, various”); see various. Displaced native Old English mislīcnes.

Pronunciation

• enPR: və-rīʹĭ-tē, IPA^(key): /vəˈɹaɪ.ɪ.ti/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪɪti
• Hyphenation: va‧ri‧e‧ty

Noun

variety (countable and uncountable, plural varieties)

1. The quality of being varied; diversity.
   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 34:

     The teeth of sharks, for all their variety, share one characteristic, and that is the way in which they are attached.

   Variety is the spice of life.

   Antonym: sameness

   • Varied definition

     simple past tense and past participle of vary

   • Diversity definition

     The quality of being diverse or different; difference or unlikeness. (1 of 3 diversity definitions)

   • Sameness definition

     The quality of being the same; identity. (1 of 3 sameness definitions)
2. A specific variation of something.

   • Variation definition

     The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing. (1 of 7 variation definitions)
3. A number of different things.
   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:

     One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.

   • 2013 January 1, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, page 64:

     In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.” His quest leads him around the world to study a variety of suspect zoonoses—animal-hosted pathogens that infect humans.

   Synonyms: array, assortment

   • Array definition

     Clothing and ornamentation. (1 of 12 array definitions)

   • Assortment definition

     A collection of varying but related items.
4. A state of constant change.

   • Change definition

     To become something different. (1 of 8 change definitions)
5. (taxonomy) A rank in a taxonomic classification, below species and subspecies.

   • Taxonomy definition

     The science or the technique used to make a classification. (1 of 3 taxonomy definitions)

   • Rank definition

     The symbol for rank.

   • Classification definition

     The act of forming into a class or classes; a distribution into groups, as classes, orders, families, etc., according to some common relations or attributes.

   • Species definition

     Type or kind. (1 of 12 species definitions)

   • Subspecies definition

     A rank in the classification of organisms, below species. (1 of 3 subspecies definitions)
6. (cybernetics) The total number of distinct states of a system.

   • Cybernetics definition

     The theory/science of communication and control in the animal and the machine. (1 of 3 cybernetics definitions)

   • System definition

     A collection of organized things; a whole composed of relationships among its members. (1 of 8 system definitions)
7. (cybernetics) Logarithm of the base 2 of the total number of distinct states of a system.

   • Logarithm definition

     For a number ${\displaystyle x}$ , the power to which a given base number must be raised in order to obtain ${\displaystyle x}$ . Written ${\displaystyle \log _{b}x}$ . For example, ${\displaystyle \log _{10}1000=3}$ because ${\displaystyle 10^{3}=1000}$ and ${\displaystyle \log _{2}16=4}$ because ${\displaystyle 2^{4}=16}$ .
8. (linguistics) A term used for a specific form of a language, neutral to whether that form is a dialect, accent, register, etc. and to its prestige level.
   • 2014, James Lambert, “Diachronic stability in Indian English lexis”, in World Englishes, page 114:

     The mere existence of a dictionary of a certain variety of English does not automatically confer acceptance of that variety.

   • Linguistics definition

     The scientific study of language.

   • Dialect definition

     A variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular area, community, or social group, differing from other varieties of the same language in relatively minor ways as regards grammar, phonology, and lexicon. (1 of 6 dialect definitions)

   • Accent definition

     A higher-pitched or stronger articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it. (1 of 21 accent definitions)

   • Register definition

     A formal recording of names, events, transactions etc. (1 of 18 register definitions)

   • Prestige definition

     The quality of how good the reputation of something or someone is, how favourably something or someone is regarded. (1 of 2 prestige definitions)
9. (algebra, universal algebra) An equational class; the class of all algebraic structures of a given signature, satisfying a given set of identities.

   • Algebra definition

     A system for computation using letters or other symbols to represent numbers, with rules for manipulating these symbols. (1 of 8 algebra definitions)

   • Class definition

     A group, collection, category or set sharing characteristics or attributes. (1 of 15 class definitions)

   • Algebraic definition

     Of, or relating to, algebra. (1 of 5 algebraic definitions)

   • Structure definition

     A cohesive whole built up of distinct parts. (1 of 8 structure definitions)

   • Signature definition

     A person's name, written by that person, used as identification or to signify approval of accompanying material, such as a legal contract. (1 of 12 signature definitions)

   • Identity definition

     Sameness, identicalness; the quality or fact of (several specified things) being the same. (1 of 7 identity definitions)
10. (algebraic geometry) An algebraic variety.

    • Algebraic Geometry definition

      A branch of mathematics that studies algebraic varieties (solution sets of polynomial equations) and their generalisations, using techniques from both algebra (chiefly commutative algebra) and geometry.

    • Algebraic Variety definition

      The set of solutions of a given system of polynomial equations over the real or complex numbers; any of certain generalisations of such a set that preserve the geometric intuition implicit in the original definition.
11. The kind of theatrical entertainment given in variety shows.

    • Theatrical definition

      Of or relating to the theatre. (1 of 2 theatrical definitions)

    • Entertainment definition

      An activity designed to give pleasure, enjoyment, diversion, amusement, or relaxation to an audience, no matter whether the audience participates passively as in watching opera or a movie, or actively as in games. (1 of 6 entertainment definitions)

    • Variety Show definition

      A theatrical entertainment featuring a succession of short, unrelated performances by singers, dancers, comedians, acrobats, magicians, etc.
12. The production of, or performance in, variety shows.

Synonyms

• (quality of being varied): See also Thesaurus:nonuniformity
• (algebraic geometry): algebraic variety
• (universal algebra): equational class, equational variety, variety of algebras

Hyponyms

• (specific variation of something): cultivar

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• species
• (cybernetics: logarithm): information entropy

Further reading

• variety in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• variety in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.