Dictionary Definition
variation
Noun
1 an instance of change; the rate or magnitude of
change [syn: fluctuation]
2 an activity that varies from a norm or
standard; "any variation in his routine was immediately reported"
[syn: variance]
3 a repetition of a musical theme in which it is
modified or embellished
4 something a little different from others of the
same type; "an experimental version of the night fighter"; "an
emery wheel is a modern variant of the grindstone"; "the boy is a
younger edition of his father" [syn: version, variant, edition]
5 an artifact that deviates from a norm or
standard; "he patented a variation on the sandal"
6 the angle (at a particular location) between
magnetic north and true north [syn: magnetic
declination, magnetic
variation]
7 (astronomy) any perturbation of the mean motion
or orbit of a planet or satellite (especially a perturbation of the
earth's moon)
8 (biology) an organism that has characteristics
resulting from chromosomal alteration [syn: mutant, mutation, sport]
9 (ballet) a solo dance or dance figure [syn:
pas
seul]
10 the act of changing or altering something
slightly but noticeably from the norm or standard; "who is
responsible for these variations in taxation?"
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Noun
- A distinct group of objects or things
- The angular difference at the vessel between the direction of true north and magnetic north. Also called magnetic declination.
- a line of play that differs from the original
Translations
difference between true and magnetic (compass)
north
- Finnish: eranto
(board games) a line of play that differs from
the original
- German: Variante
Derived terms
References
- US FM 55-501 MARINE CREWMAN’S HANDBOOK; 1 December 1999
Extensive Definition
Variation means an instance of change or the
rate or magnitude of
change. It may refer to:
Biology:
- Biodiversity
- Genetic diversity, differences within a species
Physics:
- Magnetic variation, difference between magnetic north and true north, measured as an angle
- Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the Moon
Mathematics:
- Bounded variation
- Calculus of variations, a field of mathematics which deals with functions of functions.
- Coefficient of variation in statistics, the magnitude of variance relative to the mean. Variation often refers to a vague notion of the extent of spread in measurements of a variable, quantified in the variance.
- Permutation
Arts:
- Variation (ballet), solo dance or dance figure
- Variation (music), formal technique where material is altered during repetition
- Variations (album), composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Variation on a theme, in art history
Other:
- Variation (linguistics)
- Variation (game), modifications made to a game by a community of players (as opposed to a central authority)
- Variation (game tree), particular series of moves
variation in Czech: Variace
variation in German: Variation
variation in Spanish: Variación
variation in Galician: Variación
variation in Lithuanian: Variacija
variation in Norwegian: Variasjon
variation in Polish: Wariacja
variation in Portuguese: Variação
variation in Russian: Вариация
variation in Slovak: Variácia
variation in Finnish: Variaatio
variation in Ukrainian: Варіація
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Nachtmusik, Proteus, aberrancy, aberration, about-face,
absolute music, accommodation, adaptation, adjustment, air varie,
aleatory, aleatory
music, allotropism,
allotropy, alteration, altering, alternation, amelioration, anacrusis, analysis, anatomization, apostasy, arrangement, atomization, bass passage,
bend, betterment, bias, bourdon, branching off, break, bridge, burden, cadence, capriciousness, chamber
music, chamber orchestra, change, change of heart, change
of pace, changeability, changeableness, changing, choice, choppiness, chorus, circuitousness, coda, composition, constructive
change, continuity,
contrariety,
contrast, conversion, corner, crook, curve, dappleness, declination, defection, deflection, degeneration, degenerative
change, demarcation,
departure, descant, desultoriness, desynonymization,
deterioration,
detour, development, deviability, deviance, deviancy, deviation, deviousness, difference, differencing, differentiation,
differing, digression, disaccord, disaccordance, disagreement, disconformity, discongruity, discontinuity, discordance, discrepancy, discreteness, discrimination, discursion, disequalization,
disjunction,
disorder, disparity, dissent, dissimilarity, dissonance, distinction, distinctness, distinguishment,
divagation, divarication, divergence, divergency, diversification,
diversion, diversity, division, dogleg, double, drift, drifting, eccentricity, electronic
music, errantry,
erraticism, etude, excursion, excursus, exercise, exorbitation, exposition, far cry, fickleness, figure, fitting, flightiness, flip-flop,
fluctuation,
folderol, freakishness, gradual
change, hairpin,
harmonic close, harmonization, her
infinite variety, heterogeneity, heteromorphism, improvement, impulsiveness, inaccordance, incidental
music, incompatibility,
incongruity,
inconsistency,
inconsonance,
inconstancy,
indirection,
individualization,
individuation,
inequality, inharmoniousness,
inharmony, instability, instrumental
music, interlude,
intermezzo,
introductory phrase, invention, irreconcilability,
irregularity,
jerkiness, manifoldness, measure, melioration, mercuriality, mitigation, mixture, modification, modifying, modulation, moodiness, motleyness, movement, multifariousness,
multiplicity,
musical phrase, musical sentence, mutability, mutation, nocturne, nonconformism, nonconformity, nonstandardization,
nonuniformity,
novelty, obliquity, odds, omnifariousness,
omniformity,
opposition, opus, orchestration, ornament, oscillation, otherness, overthrow, part, particularization,
passage, pendulation, pererration, period, permutation, personalization,
phrase, piece, pluralism, polymorphism, production, program music,
qualification,
radical change, raggedness, rambling, re-creation, realignment, redesign, reform, reformation, refrain, remaking, renewal, reshaping, resolution, response, restlessness, restructuring, reversal, revival, revivification, revolution, ricercar, ritornello, score, section, seesawing, segregation, separateness, separation, severalization, severance, shapeshifter, sheer, shift, shiftiness, shifting, shifting course,
shifting path, shuffling, skew, slant, sonata, sonatina, specialization, stanza, statement, strain, straying, string orchestra,
string quartet, study,
sudden change, sweep,
swerve, swerving, swinging, switch, tack, tailpiece, teeter-tottering,
teetering, theme and
variations, total change, tottering, transition, trio, turn, turnabout, turning, tutti, tutti passage, twist, uncertainty, unconformism, unconformity, undependability,
unfixedness,
unlikeness, unorthodoxy, unpredictability,
unreliability,
unsettledness,
unstableness,
unsteadfastness,
unsteadiness,
upheaval, vacillation, variability, variance, variegation, variety, variousness, varying, veer, versatility, verse, vicissitude, violent change,
wandering, wantonness, warp, wavering, waywardness, whimsicality, work, worsening, yaw, zigzag