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Variety
Definitions
- 1 A deviation or difference. countable, uncountable
"The difference, therefore, in theſe animals, ariſes rather from their habits than their confirmation; and, upon examination, there will be leſs variety found betvween them than between birds that live upon land, and thoſe that ſwim upon the water."
- 2 noticeable heterogeneity wordnet
- 3 A specific variation of something. countable, uncountable
"The ſpirit of that competition burns / With all varieties of ill by turns, / Each vainly magnifies his own ſucceſs, / Reſents his fellows, wiſhes it were leſs, […]"
- 4 a difference that is usually pleasant wordnet
- 5 A specific variation of something.; An animal or plant (or a group of such animals or plants) with characteristics causing it to differ from other animals or plants of the same species; a strain or cultivar. broadly, countable, uncountable
"Many more ſorts of varieties of theſe kindes [of Aconitum anthora] there are, but theſe onely, as the moſt ſpecious, are nourſed vp in Floriſts Gardens for pleaſure; the other are kept by ſuch as are Catholicke obſeruers of all natures ſtore."
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- 6 a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality wordnet
- 7 A specific variation of something.; An animal or plant (or a group of such animals or plants) with characteristics causing it to differ from other animals or plants of the same species; a strain or cultivar.; A rank in a taxonomic classification below species and (if present) subspecies, and above form; hence, an organism of that rank. broadly, countable, uncountable
"Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum is a variety of Capsicum annuum commonly known as chiltepin or Indian pepper."
- 8 a show consisting of a series of short unrelated performances wordnet
- 9 A specific variation of something.; A specific form of a language, neutral to whether that form is an accent, dialect, register, etc., and to its prestige level; an isolect or lect. countable, uncountable
"The mere existence of a dictionary of a certain variety of English does not automatically confer acceptance of that variety."
- 10 (biology) a taxonomic category consisting of members of a species that differ from others of the same species in minor but heritable characteristics wordnet
- 11 A specific variation of something.; A stamp, or set of stamps, which has one or more characteristics (such as colour, paper, etc.) differing from other stamps in the same issue, especially if such differences are intentionally introduced. countable, uncountable
- 12 a collection containing a variety of sorts of things wordnet
- 13 A collection or number of different things. countable, uncountable
"But nether in this maner, nor any other particular procedyng, can we ſufficiently direct yow: but, notyng unto yow the generalitees of our deſyre, referr yow to apply your doings to the varieté and occurrency of thyngs there."
- 14 A collection or number of different things.; In universal algebra: an equational class; the class of all algebraic structures of a given signature, satisfying a given set of identities. countable, uncountable
- 15 A collection or number of different things.; Ellipsis of algebraic variety (“the set of solutions of a given system of polynomial equations over the real or complex numbers; any of certain generalisations of such a set that preserves the geometric intuition implicit in the original definition”). abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 16 A collection or number of different things.; The total number of distinct states of a system; also, the logarithm to the base 2 of the total number of distinct states of a system. countable, uncountable
- 17 Ellipsis of variety performance or variety show (“a type of entertainment featuring a succession of short, unrelated performances by various artistes such as (depending on the medium) acrobats, comedians, dancers, magicians, singers, etc.”). abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 18 The quality of being varied; diversity. countable, uncountable
"Variety is the spice of life."
- 19 The kind of entertainment given in variety performances or shows; also, the production of, or performance in, variety performances or shows. countable, uncountable
Etymology
From Middle French varieté (“variety”) (modern French variété (“variety; genre, type”)) or directly from its etymon Latin varietās (“difference; diversity, variety”) + English -ty (suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives); by surface analysis, various + -ety. Varietās is derived from varius (“different, diverse, various; variegated”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“to abandon; to give out; to leave”)) + -tās (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns indicating a state of being). The English word displaced the native Old English mislīcnes. Sense 1.3.2 (“total number of distinct states of a system; logarithm to the base 2 of the total number of distinct states of a system”) was coined by the English psychiatrist William Ross Ashby (1903–1972) in his work An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956). Cognates * Galician variedade (“variety”) * Italian varietà (“difference; variety”) * Portuguese variedade (“variety”) * Spanish variedad (“breed; variety”)
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