Etymologically
Log in

variability

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word variability

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1771 E. Griffith, History of Lady Barton
Ultimate origin
Latin variō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English variable
English variability

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌvɛəɹ.i.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/, /-ɪ.ti/[1]
  • US: /ˌvæɹ.i.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/, /-ɪ.ti/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English variable + -ity,[2][3][4] or perhaps borrowed from French variabilité;[2] compare Italian variabilità and Spanish variabilidad.[2] Klein forms it directly from Latin variābilis.[5] Variable is from Old French variable (“various, changeable, fickle”), from Late Latin variābilis (“changeable”), from variō (“to change”), the source of vary.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being variable; a tendency to change: 1771, in E. Griffith's History of Lady Barton.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The older word for the quality was variableness, from the early 15th century.[3] In the 19th century variability took on special senses: variation in amount or value, from 1816,[2] in biology the capacity of plants and animals to vary from a type, from 1832 in Lyell,[2][3] and in astronomy, of stars, by 1870.[3] Merriam-Webster also has a statistical sense, dispersion.[6]

Timeline

  • 1771 – the quality of being variable, changeability.[2][3]
  • 1816 – capacity to vary in amount or value.[2]
  • 1832 – in biology, the capacity of organisms to vary.[2][3]
  • 1870 – in astronomy.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The quality, state or degree of being variable or changeable: the variability of the weather in spring.[7][6][2]
  2. (biology) The capacity of plants and animals to show variation from a type.[6][2]
  3. (statistics) Dispersion.[6]

Word family

  • hypervariability

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Variability.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/variability. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·