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varie

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word varie

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (varius)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈwa.ri.eː], [ˈwa.ri.ɛ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈvaː.ri.e], [ˈvaː.ri.e][1]

Forms

variē (adverb)[2]

Etymology

It is the adverb of varius (“varied, diverse”), formed with -ē.[2][1] De Vaan finds no sure etymology for ⟨varius⟩: a preform Proto-Italic *wasios, connecting it with vafer (“sly”), is speculative, and a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *h₁uh₂- (“to let, leave”) is not convincing in meaning.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus.[4] The OLD's earliest examples are from Cicero, who asks how variously and shamelessly a man had plundered.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means “in various ways, variously”, and of a group “severally, each differently”;[2] Cicero has words that arise from one root and are varied in different ways, and a decree passed “not with differing votes but almost unanimously”.[2] In rhetoric it is “in a varied style”, and it is used of things of many colours, as Pliny's stone that gleams variously against the sun.[2] Later it is also “changeably, with shifting fortunes”: the author of the Bellum Alexandrinum writes that the fight was fierce and its fortunes changing.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.[4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of things done in many ways and of a varied style.[2][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of changing colours.[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. With varied or changing colours.[2][1]
  2. With a varied appearance; in rhetoric, in a varied style.[2][1]
  3. In different ways, variously; in different degrees; severally, with differing opinions.[2][1]
  4. Changeably, with shifting fortunes; inconsistently.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Varie.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/varie. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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