variety
Forms
- Plural
- varieties
Definitions
1.A deviation or difference.
2.A specific variation of something.
- Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum is a variety of Capsicum annuum commonly known as chiltepin or Indian pepper.
- The mere existence of a dictionary of a certain variety of English does not automatically confer acceptance of that variety.
- Jim is a nurseryman, specialising in clematis, and he has built up a business exporting 150 varieties to countries all over the world.
3.A collection or number of different things.
4.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.”).
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1445
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Uncommon
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Synonyms
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.