Etymologically
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variability

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 21:00. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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