Etymologically
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variation

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌvɛəɹɪˈeɪʃn̩/ (UK); /ˌvɛəɹiˈeɪʃn̩/, /ˌvæɹiˈeɪʃn̩/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English variacioun, borrowed from Old French variation (“variety, diversity”) and directly Latin variatio (“difference, change”),[2][3][4] from the past participle stem of variāre (“to change”) (see vary).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Difference, divergence: about 1385, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales;[3][5] about 1400 in Etymonline.[2]

Semantic evolution

NODE notes the early sense variance or conflict,[6] and discord is an obsolete sense of about 1485.[5] The act or process of changing is from the mid-15th century,[2] and the fact of varying from 1502.[3][5] An instance of change is by the 1610s,[2] and the extent of variation by 1810.[2] In music, a theme repeated with changes and elaborations is from 1801.[2] Magnetic declination is a technical sense.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1385 – a difference.[3]
  • mid-15th century – a process of change.[2]
  • 1502 – the fact of varying.[3]
  • 1801 – in music.[2]
  • 1810 – the extent of variation.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act, process or result of varying; change or difference.
  2. The amount or degree of change.
  3. Something that differs slightly from others of its kind.
  4. (music) A repetition of a theme with changes in rhythm, harmony or melody.

Word family

  • variational
  • variationally
  • covariation
  • intervariation
  • nonvariation
  • magnetic variation
  • free variation

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin