[var.i.ous] adj [L varius] (1552) 1 archaic: variable, inconstant
2: varicolored "birds of ~ plumage" 3 a: of differing kinds: multifarious b: dissimilar in nature or form: unlike "animals as ~ as the jaguar and the sloth"
4: having a number of different aspects or characteristics "a ~ place" "a ~ talent"
5: of an indefinite number greater than one "stop at ~ towns"
6: individual, separate "rate increases granted in the ~ states" syn see different -- var.i.ous.ness n
[2]various pron, pl in constr (1877): an indefinite number of separate individuals greater than one "conversations with people from ~ of the schools --Patricia Linden"