varIant, variaunt

& s. [Fr. variant, pr. par. of varier =to vary (q. v.).] A. As adjective : 1. Different, diverse; having a different form or character. "Men were found of nature variaunt." Chaucer: Court of Love. 2. Variable, varying. B. As subst.: Something different in form from but e entially the same as another; a different form, reading, version, or the like. "There are the usual number of variants . from the folklore of all European countries."- Harper's Maga cine, Sept., 1885, p. 642. vär-I-āte, v. t. & i. [Lat. variatus, pa. par. of vario=to vary (q. v.).] A. Trans.: To make different; to vary, to diversify, to alter. B. In trans.: To alter, to vary, to change. "This artificial change is but a fixation of nature's inconstancy, helping its variating infirmities." -Jeremy Taylor: Artificial Handsomene , p. 43. vär-I-āt-ěd, pa. par. & a. [VARIATE.] A. As pa . par .: (See the verb.) B. As adjective : 2. The extent to which a thing varies; the degree, interval, or amount of departure from a previous condition, position, or form; amount or rate of change. "Another thing that stumbled me here was the varia tion , which, at this time, by the last amplitude I had, I found to be but 7 deg. 58 min."-Dampier: Voyages (an. 1699). *3. Difference. "There is great variation between him that is raised to the sovereignty by the favor of his peers and him that comes to it by the suffrage of the people."-Ben Jonson: Discoveries. 4. The act of deviating; deviation. "He observed the variation of our English from the original, and made an entire translation of the whole for his private use."- Fell . *5. Variance, di ension, discord, disagreement. "Thus the christen realmes were in variacyon , and the churches in great dyfference." -Berners: Froi art's Cron ycle , ch. cecxliv. II. Technically : 2. Biology : "No two animals or plants, even when born of the same parents, are exactly alike; this is known as variation ."Ray Lankester: Degeneration, p. 13. (2) Hereditary modification. "We shall see how great is the power of man in accumulating, by his selection, succe ive slight variations ."Darwin: Origin of Species (ed. 2d), p. 3. (3) A modification directly due to the physical conditions of life; such as the dwarfed condition of shells in the Baltic, or of stunted plants on Alpine summits. ( Darwin : Origin of Species , ch. ii.) † (4) An organism, or a group of organisms, exhibiting modification due to external conditions. "The term variation has been employed by some authors to designate forms le permanent than varieties, but the term has not obtained general acceptance." Chambers' Encyclopædia (ed. 1867), ix. 716. *3. Gram.: Change of termination of words, as in declension, conjugation, comparison, and the like; inflection. "The rules of grammar, and useful examples of the variation of words, and the peculiar form of speech, are often appointed to be repeated."- Watts : On the Mind. 4. Music: An air or theme with variations is a musical composition in which a simple melody is first given out, and then several times repeated, each repetition containing changes by means of broken harmony, counterpoint, broken rhythm, the arpeggio, scale-pa ages, and even by modification of key. The earliest forms of a variation were the "divisions" added to a ground-ba ; then there followed the changes above described, but the character of variations in modern music has gradually developed into a series of sound-pictures, of which the theme is indeed the main subject, but is represented under various phases of sentiment, expre ion, thought, and æsthetic coloring. 5. Physics & Navig .: The angle included between the true and magnetic meridians of any particular place. If the direction of the true meridian at any given place were known, the variation of the needle would be found by simply taking the bearing of this line with the compa . If the bearing of the meridian is east of north, the variation is to the west; if the bearing is west of north, the variation is to the east. In order, therefore, to find the varia *1. Ord . Lang .: Varied, diversified. "Smooth, variated, unangular bodies."-Burke: Sub . tion of the needle at any place, we first find the lime and Beautiful. 2. Her .: Varriated (q. v.). direction of the true meridian, or of some line which makes a known angle with it; we then observe the bearing of this line; from this result the variation is easily computed. The line most usually varia-contioned the mudrehet vär-I-ā-tion, *var-i-a-ci-on, *var-i-a-cy-on, 8. [Fr. variation , from Lat. variationem , acc us. variatio, from variatus pa. par. of vario =to vary (..): Ital. var i azione.pa. I. Ordinary Language : 1. The act, proce , or state of varying; partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing; alteration, change, mutation, modification. "Absolute nece ity, in which there can be no variation in any kind or degree." -Clarke : On the Attributes , prop. vii. pole star, either to the east or or west. At London, in 1550, the deviation was 11° 17′ E.; about 1669 it was 0°. It then began to deviate to the west, till it attained its maximum in 1815, 24° 17′ 18". (2) Calculus of variations: [CALCULUS.] (3) Variation of elements: Astron., Physics, & Math .: Changes in the elements entering into the calculation of any figure, rate of motion, . [VARIATION, 11. 1., & (6).] (4) Variation of the compa : [MAGNETISM, 1; VARIATION, II. 5.] (6) Variations of the barometer: [BAROMETER.] variation-compa , s. A declination compa (q. v.).