Variable

vā′ri-a-bl, adj. that may be varied: changeable: liable to change: unsteady: ( bot. , zool. ) of a species embracing many individuals and groups departing more or le from the strict type: ( math. ) quantitatively indeterminate: ( astron. ) changing in brightne .— n. ( math. ) a quantity subject to continual increase or decrease: a quantity which may have an infinite number of values in the same expre ion: a shifting wind.— ns. Variabil′ity ( biol. ), tendency to depart in any direction from the mean character of the species; Vā′riablene .— adv. Vā′riably .— v.t. Vā′riate , to vary.— v.i. to change.— adj. Vā′riated , varied, diversified: varriated.— n. Variā′tion , a varying: a change: change from one to another: succe ive change: the extent to which a thing varies: ( gram. ) change of termination: ( mus. ) a manner of singing or playing the same air with various changes in time, rhythm, or key: ( astron. ) deviation from the mean orbit of a heavenly body: ( biol. ) departure from the mean character of a species.— adjs. Variā′tional , pertaining to variation; Vā′riative , tending to variation.— Variable species , any species with marked rate of variability. [Fr.,—L. variabilis .]