vəˈrīəd.ē, -ətē, -i noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French varieté, from Latin varietat-, varietas, from varie- (from varius various) + -tat-, -tas -ty
1. : the quality or state of having numerous forms or types : the quality or state of being various or varied : multifariousness
astonishing grasp of the multiplicity and variety of life — René Wellek
his imagination is ensnared by her endless variety — Edwin Mims
the variety of the city's musical life
2. : an intermixture or succession of different things, forms, or qualities : a number or collection of different things especially of a particular class : assortment
worked at a variety of occupations — Current Biography
fought for a variety of local improvements — Frank Monaghan
region has a wide variety of plant life — American Guide Series: Arkansas
3. : something differing from others of the same general kind : one of a number of things that are related : sort
army of foremen, clerks, shopkeepers and middlemen of every variety — G.M.Trevelyan
as
a. : any of various infraspecific groups of plants or animals: as
(1) archaic : a group or kind of individual distinguished by characters too inconstant or too trivial to justify specific rank
(2) : subspecies a
(3) : a category immediately inferior to a subspecies and not resulting from geographic isolation
(4) : a specified biotype (as a color phase)
(5) : horticultural variety
b. : one of the forms in which a species of mineral may occur differing in minor characteristics especially of structure, color, or purity of composition
sapphire is a blue variety of corundum
4. : variety store
operates a variety and luncheonette — Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily News
a variety chain
5.
a. : entertainment consisting of successive unrelated performances (as songs, dances, skits, acrobatic feats, and trained animal acts)
variety program
variety turn
variety house
the wireless blares out variety and swing music — Flora Thompson
— see variety show ; compare vaudeville
b. : the production of or performance in variety shows : variety performances
6. : the effect of multiplicity and continuous discovery in form as opposed to aesthetic monotony
Synonyms:
subspecies , race , breed , strain , stock : these words show variable uses according to the period of scientific writing in which they appear and have been used to designate closely related groups of plants or animals narrower in scope than a species. variety and subspecies often apply to a group distinguished from others in a general class by characteristics too minor to constitute criteria of a species. Sometimes variety designates a group produced by human research and control
a new variety of apples
subspecies indicates a subdivision of a species set off from the rest by minor or unstable differences. race , often a bitterly controversial word in both scientific and lay discussions, may designate a group whose distinctive characteristics set it off from other groups of the same ancestry and are likely to be inherited from generation to generation with a degree of stability
the darker races of mankind are made up of those having skins rich in melanin
breed may refer to an established group within a species sharing inheritable characteristics and usually developed or maintained through human control (as Jersey cows or beagle dogs). strain may refer to a group smaller than a breed and linked by common quite specific ancestry or identifying characteristic
a strain of Shorthorn cattle known as the Milking Shorthorn
a resistant strain of bacteria
stock may suggest a genetically close relationship and a general similarity of origin, environment, and development, but its range of reference is not clearly defined
coming from a healthy stock
Synonyms:
variety , diversity : variety usually applies to a multiplicity of things within the same class or category that can be distinguished, often by marked differences
the variety of feelings which bore me onward — Mary W. Shelley
a variety of competing sects — Stringfellow Barr
a variety of styles
a variety of pleasures
diversity , though often interchangeable with variety , more usually stresses a marked difference or divergence among individuals, parts, or elements, seldom implying also or putting much stress on a class likeness
the range and diversity of their interests and activities — Dumas Malone
man's genetic diversity — Curt Stern
has a better eye for similarities among cultures than for diversities — Raphael Demos
absorbed in the diversity resulting where immigration plays an important role, as in religion and personal names — B.A.Botkin