Word Finder - variation

definition

The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing.

definition

A related but distinct thing.

example

All of his soups are variations on a single recipe.

definition

The angular difference at the vessel between the direction of true north and magnetic north.

synonyms

• magnetic declination

definition

A line of play that differs from the original.

definition

A technique where material is repeated with alterations to the melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, texture, counterpoint or orchestration; but with some invariant characteristic, e.g. a ground bass.

definition

The modification of a hereditary trait.

definition

Deviation from the mean orbit of a heavenly body.

There is a good deal of variation in the colour of the fur, the prevailing tint being grey.

The greatest variation, however, is seen in the tentacles.

One variation is illustrated in fig.

This variation, however, is not always linear.

In some cases a pair of animals pro- ‘ duce ten million offspring, and in such a number a large range of congenital variation is possible.

The cause of the variation in the signature still remains unexplained, but ceases to have therefore any great historical importance.

The system of canals shows great variation even in the same species.

This indicates that less attention has been paid to the straw than to the grain, for it is certain that, were it desirable, a great range of variation might be induced in the foliage and straw.

Apart from the botanical interest of these diversities, as indications of the faculty of variation in plants, and possibly as clues to the genealogy and origin of the cultivated plant, their practical importance is very great.

If seeds of tio of these "sporting" plants be taken and grown in another season, they may (or may not) reproduce the particular variation.

If they do, and the same process of selection be continued, the variation becomes in time "fixed," though it is always more or less liable to revert to its original condition.

In the progeny of these crossed wheats, especially in the second generation, much variation and difference of character is observable - a phenomenon commonly noticed in the descendants from crosses and hybrids, and styled by Naudin "irregular variation."

The originality of Epicurus lay in his theory that the highest point of pleasure, whether in body or mind, is to be attained by the mere removal of pain or disturbance, after which pleasure admits of variation only and not of augmentation; that therefore the utmost gratification of which the body is capable may be provided by the simplest means, and that " natural wealth " is no more than any man can earn.

The method is again that of the variation of elements.

A luminous idea of the nature of these two classes of variation may be gained by conceiving of the, motion of a ship, floating on an ocean affected by a long ground swell.

Amid the different climatic conditions of so vast a continent as America, variation in size, and in the capacity of frames used, is in some measure accounted for.

He pointed to the admitted fact of congenital variation, and he showed that congehital variations are arbitrary and, so to speak, non-significant.

This newly discovered inheritance of " variation in the tendency to react " has a wide application and has led the present writer to coin the word " educability."

It is not yet experimentally proved that variation as the inverse square is absolutely true at all distances.

The above theory, coupled with such facts as the variation of the composition of the constant boiling-point fraction with the pressure under which the mixture is distilled, the proportionality of the density of all mixtures to their composition, &c., shows this to be erroneous.

This, which has long been recognized as a class-reaction, is obviously capable of endless variation.

The details of the structure of the flower show a wide variation; the flowers are often extremely simple, sometimes as in Arum, reduced to a single stamen or pistil.

In some cases there is a very sudden drop at or below a certain temperature to a much lower value, and above and below the point the temperature variation is small.

Though all yield fur of serviceable quality, the commercial value varies immensely, not only according to the species from which it is obtained, but according to individual variation, depending upon age, sex, season, and other circumstances.

A similar expression for the variation of the specific heat S at constant pressure is obtained from the second expression in (8), by taking p and 0 as independent variables; but it follows more directly from a consideration of the variation of the function (E+pv).

Among his happy conjectures may be mentioned that of the sun's axial rotation, postulated by him as the physical cause of the revolutions of the planets, and soon after confirmed by the discovery of sun-spots; the suggestion of a periodical variation in the obliquity of the ecliptic; and the explanation as a solar atmospheric effect of the radiance observed to surround the totally eclipsed sun.

This is especially the case in the lower and moister regions, such as the west coast, where malarial fever is very prevalent and deadly; the most unfavourable factors being humidity with absence of climatic variation (daily or seasonal).

The variation of type among the Bantu is due probably to a varying admixture of alien blood,which is more apparent as the east coast is approached.

Arago in 1811 found that in the case of white light and with moderately thin plates the transmitted light is no longer white but coloured, a variation of brightness but not of tint being produced when the polarizer and analyser being crossed are rotated together, while the rotation of the analyser alone produces a change of colour, which passes through white into the complementary tint.

This involves no assumptions as to the law of variation of E.M.F.

In many cases the deviations do not appear to favour any simple hypothesis as to the mode of variation of s with temperature, but as a rule the indication is that s is nearly constant, or even diminishes with rise of temperature.

A comparison of the results of different observers would also suggest that the law of variation may be different in different metals, although the differences in the values of d 2 E/dP may be due in part to differences of purity or errors of observation.

An attempt has been made to explain the Volta effect as due to the affinity of the metals for each other, but that would not account for the variation of the effect with the state of the surface, except as affecting the actual surface of contact.

Up to 1890 the most careful observations and researches failed to establish the periodicity of such a rotation, though there was strong evidence of a variation of latitude.

C. Chandler, from an elaborate discussion of a great number of observations, showed that there was really a variation of the latitude of the points of observation; but, instead of the period being 305 days, it was about 428 days.

Near one phase of this combined period the two component motions nearly annul each other, so that the variation is then small, while at the opposite phase, 3 to 4 years later, the two motions are in the same direction and the range of variation is at its maximum.

But, as a matter of fact, they are subject to an annual variation.

Hence the motion of the pole of rotation is also subject to a similar variation.

When the ovules are very numerous (indefinite), while at the same time the placenta is not much developed, their position exhibits great variation, some being directed upwards, others downwards, others transversely; and their form is altered by pressure into various polyhedral shapes.

Thomson, on the other hand, set to work to overcome the difficulty by improvement in the manufacture of cables, and first of all in the production of copper of high conductivity and the construction of apparatus which would readily respond to the slightest variation of the current in the cable.

The considerable variation in the size of the pinnae of Podozamites, as represented by species from the Jurassic rocks in the Arctic regions and various European localities, recalls the variation in length and breadth of the leaves of Agathis.

Starting from simple elementary propositions, Steiner advances to the solution of problems which analytically require the calculus of variation, but which at the time altogether surpassed the powers of that calculus.

A ray of light is reflected from this mirror and from another mirror which is rocked by a small motor driven off the same circuit, so that the ray has two vibratory motions imparted to it at right angles, one a simple harmonic motion and the other a motion imitating the variation of the current or electromotive force under test.

The vertical section, on the other hand, is subject to considerable variation according to the work to which the furnace is applied.

Your confession is a tad different variation; is it your wife or mommy?

Care to explain why there are six unused Christmas cards, six Birthday cards..." she began counting, "…and seven Valentine cards, all 'To My Loving Wife,' or some variation thereof?

There is dialect variation across the UK.

Variation of districts 2. (1) The districts specified in Schedule 1 to this Order are hereby abolished.

Diagram to illustrate parathyroid anatomy (posterior view) - click to enlarge There is variation in the number and location of glands.

Relatively minor variation from perfect symmetry is called fluctuating asymmetry.