Etymologically
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various

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 14:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈveə.ri.əs/, US /ˈver.i.əs/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English various, from Latin varius (“changing, different, diverse, variegated”) with the suffix -ous,[2][3][4] perhaps partly through Middle French varieux[2] or Medieval Latin *variosus.[5] Latin varius is of uncertain origin,[2] probably related to vārus (“bent, knock-kneed”).[6][7] It is the source of vary.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Characterized by variety, of diverse kinds: probably before 1425, in a translation of Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie,[2] or the early 15th century.[8] The SOED also records “varied in colour, variegated” as an early, chiefly poetic sense.[3]

Semantic evolution

“Changeable, variable” is from 1552, and of persons “inconstant, fickle” from 1636, both now obsolete.[9][10] “Differing from one another, of different kinds” is from the 1630s.[8][11] With a plural noun, “several, many different”, it is a 17th-century development.[10] The pronoun use, as in various of the members, is from 1877.[6]

Timeline

  • before 1425 – of diverse kinds.[2]
  • 1552 – changeable.[9]
  • 1630s – differing from one another.[8]
  • 1877 – pronoun.[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of different kinds; diverse.
  2. More than one; several.
  3. Individual and separate: the various members.
  4. (literary) Many-sided; variegated.

Pronoun

  1. Several different people or things: various of the members.

Word family

  • variously
  • variousness
  • variant
  • variation
  • variegate
  • variety
  • vary
  • variable
  • prevaricate
  • variegated

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that the pronoun use of various, as in He spoke to various of the members, is supported by analogy with several and many, but has met widespread critical objection.[12]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin