[var.i.ant] adj (14c) 1 obs: variable
2: manifesting variety, deviation, or disagreement
3: varying usu. slightly from the standard form "~ readings"
[2]variant n (1848): one of two or more persons or things exhibiting usu. slight differences: as a: one that exhibits variation from a type or norm b: one of two or more different spellings (as labor and labour) or pronunciations (as of economics ) of the same word c: one of two or more words (as geographic and geographical) or word elements (as mon- and mono-) of essentially the same meaning differing only in the presence or absence of an affix