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Variety   /vərˈaɪəti/   Listen
noun
Variety  n.  (pl. varieties)  
1.
The quality or state of being various; intermixture or succession of different things; diversity; multifariousness. "Variety is nothing else but a continued novelty." "The variety of colors depends upon the composition of light." "For earth hath this variety from heaven." "There is a variety in the tempers of good men."
2.
That which is various. Specifically:
(a)
A number or collection of different things; a varied assortment; as, a variety of cottons and silks. "He... wants more time to do that variety of good which his soul thirsts after."
(b)
Something varying or differing from others of the same general kind; one of a number of things that are akin; a sort; as, varieties of wood, land, rocks, etc.
(c)
(Biol.) An individual, or group of individuals, of a species differing from the rest in some one or more of the characteristics typical of the species, and capable either of perpetuating itself for a period, or of being perpetuated by artificial means; hence, a subdivision, or peculiar form, of a species. Note: Varieties usually differ from species in that any two, however unlike, will generally propagate indefinitely (unless they are in their nature unfertile, as some varieties of rose and other cultivated plants); in being a result of climate, food, or other extrinsic conditions or influences, but generally by a sudden, rather than a gradual, development; and in tending in many cases to lose their distinctive peculiarities when the individuals are left to a state of nature, and especially if restored to the conditions that are natural to typical individuals of the species. Many varieties of domesticated animals and of cultivated plants have been directly produced by man.
(d)
In inorganic nature, one of those forms in which a species may occur, which differ in minor characteristics of structure, color, purity of composition, etc. Note: These may be viewed as variations from the typical species in its most perfect and purest form, or, as is more commonly the case, all the forms, including the latter, may rank as Varieties. Thus, the sapphire is a blue variety, and the ruby a red variety, of corundum; again, calcite has many Varieties differing in form and structure, as Iceland spar, dogtooth spar, satin spar, and also others characterized by the presence of small quantities of magnesia, iron, manganese, etc. Still again, there are varieties of granite differing in structure, as graphic granite, porphyritic granite, and other varieties differing in composition, as albitic granite, hornblendic, or syenitic, granite, etc.
3.
(Theaters) Such entertainment as in given in variety shows; the production of, or performance in, variety shows. (Cant)
Geographical variety (Biol.), a variety of any species which is coincident with a geographical region, and is usually dependent upon, or caused by, peculiarities of climate.
Variety hybrid (Biol.), a cross between two individuals of different varieties of the same species; a mongrel.
Synonyms: Diversity; difference; kind. Variety, Diversity. A man has a variety of employments when he does many things which are not a mere repetition of the same act; he has a diversity of employments when the several acts performed are unlike each other, that is, diverse. In most cases, where there is variety there will be more or less of diversity, but not always. One who sells railroad tickets performs a great variety of acts in a day, while there is but little diversity in his employment. "All sorts are here that all the earth yields! Variety without end." "But see in all corporeal nature's scene, What changes, what diversities, have been!"





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Variety" Quotes from Famous Books



... to clean the tin porringer in which it was conveyed to me, until it was as good as a looking-glass. Here, likewise, I was put in a bath, and had new clothes brought to me; and my old rags were burnt, and I was camphored and vinegared and disinfected in a variety of ways. ...
— George Silverman's Explanation • Charles Dickens
... class is taught and boarded gratuitously, and has to pay but a very small sum for his room. It is expected, in return for these advantages, that he will be a diligent student, and render himself useful in a variety of ways. In Trinity College, at the time of Goldsmith's admission, several derogatory and indeed menial offices were exacted from the sizer, as if the college sought to indemnify itself for conferring benefits by inflicting indignities. ...
— Oliver Goldsmith • Washington Irving
... Japanese stock is in reality a hybrid of European or American species. In 1909, 45 Japanese seedling trees were set out at Gap, Lancaster Co., for experimentation along this line. A recent examination showed that 90 per cent are infected. Concerning the variety or purity of this stock, I have not been informed. Our force as well as others are at work upon the problem which ...
— Northern Nut Growers Association, Report of the Proceedings at the Third Annual Meeting • Northern Nut Growers Association
... follows: In the universe, as we know it, there exists a certain amount of energy or power of doing work. This amount of energy can neither be increased nor decreased; energy can no more be created or destroyed than matter. It exists, however, in a variety of forms, which may be either active or passive. In the active state it takes some form of motion. The various forces which we recognize in nature—heat, light, electricity, chemism, etc.—are simply forms of motion, and thus forms ...
— The Story of the Living Machine • H. W. Conn
... blank-book, written over almost to the last page. I have not examined the contents carefully, but I can see that they are made up of miscellaneous passages copied from books and of reflections on a great variety of topics, with few or no records of events. One of the last entries is from Clarence Mangan's ...
— The Jessica Letters: An Editor's Romance • Paul Elmer More


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