Variable
['veərɪəb(ə)l] or ['vɛrɪəbl]
Definition
(noun.) a quantity that can assume any of a set of values.
(noun.) a symbol (like x or y) that is used in mathematical or logical expressions to represent a variable quantity.
(noun.) something that is likely to vary; something that is subject to variation; 'the weather is one variable to be considered'.
(adj.) (used of a device) designed so that a property (as e.g. light) can be varied; 'a variable capacitor'; 'variable filters in front of the mercury xenon lights' .
(adj.) liable to or capable of change; 'rainfall in the tropics is notoriously variable'; 'variable winds'; 'variable expenses' .
Checker: Sheena--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Having the capacity of varying or changing; capable of alternation in any manner; changeable; as, variable winds or seasons; a variable quantity.
(a.) Liable to vary; too susceptible of change; mutable; fickle; unsteady; inconstant; as, the affections of men are variable; passions are variable.
(n.) That which is variable; that which varies, or is subject to change.
(n.) A quantity which may increase or decrease; a quantity which admits of an infinite number of values in the same expression; a variable quantity; as, in the equation x2 - y2 = R2, x and y are variables.
(n.) A shifting wind, or one that varies in force.
(n.) Those parts of the sea where a steady wind is not expected, especially the parts between the trade-wind belts.
Typed by Dewey
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Changeable, mutable.[2]. Inconstant, unsteady, fickle, vacillating, wavering, fluctuating, fitful, undecided.
Typed by Anton
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Changeable, mutable, fickle, capricious, wavering, unsteady, inconstant,shifting
ANT:Unchanging, unchangeable, immutable, constant, firm, true, fast, stanch,unwavering, steady, unalterable, invariable
Typist: Sonia
Definition
adj. that may be varied: changeable: liable to change: unsteady: (bot. zool.) of a species embracing many individuals and groups departing more or less from the strict type: (math.) quantitatively indeterminate: (astron.) changing in brightness.—n. (math.) a quantity subject to continual increase or decrease: a quantity which may have an infinite number of values in the same expression: a shifting wind.—ns. Variabil′ity (biol.) tendency to depart in any direction from the mean character of the species; Vā′riableness.—adv. Vā′riably.—v.t. Vā′riate to vary.—v.i. to change.—adj. Vā′riated varied diversified: varriated.—n. Variā′tion a varying: a change: change from one to another: successive change: the extent to which a thing varies: (gram.) change of termination: (mus.) a manner of singing or playing the same air with various changes in time rhythm or key: (astron.) deviation from the mean orbit of a heavenly body: (biol.) departure from the mean character of a species.—adjs. Variā′tional pertaining to variation; Vā′riative tending to variation.—Variable species any species with marked rate of variability.
Typist: Mag
Examples
- The difficulty in distinguishing variable species is largely due to the varieties mocking, as it were, other species of the same genus. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Its great interest for the history of thought lies in the fact that it is the result of seeking the constant in the variable, the unitary principle in the multiple phenomena of nature. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Rudimentary parts, as is generally admitted, are apt to be highly variable. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- A brake was provided for in the specification, as were also variable gears for changing speed, and an automatic blower for the fire. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The impression is made by an oscillating type wheel, to which a variable throw is imparted by the key letters to bring any desired letter into printing position. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- What a form she had, what a face she had, what a graceful, variable, enchanting manner! Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The first or variable forms vary much within the limits of the same island. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Rudimentary organs, from being useless, are not regulated by natural selection, and hence are variable. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Secondary sexual characters are highly variable, and such characters differ much in the species of the same group. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Villette owns a climate as variable, though not so humid, as that of any English town. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- But as this sympathy is very variable, it may be thought that our sentiments of morals must admit of all the same variations. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- Its principle depends upon the variable resistance of carbon in accordance with the degree of pressure to which it is subjected. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- If, then, these two varieties be variable, the most divergent of their variations will generally be preserved during the next thousand generations. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Method of obtaining a variable movement of a miniature target, corresponding to rolls of a vessel of from 1 to 10 degrees. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- A slight and variable colour tinged her cheeks, and her motions seemed attuned by some hidden harmony of surpassing sweetness. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
Editor: Rosanne