variation

Everyday

1. A change or difference in amount or level: variation in temperature. tree →
2. Something slightly different from the usual form: a variation of a game. tree →
3. (science) The differences between living things of the same kind. tree →
4. (music) A new version of a tune. tree →

In the lessons

In science: variation between people's heights or eye colour; in maths and data: variation shows how much numbers spread out. In everyday life: a variation on a recipe or game. Phrases: «a variation on», «variation in».

Examples

• There is a lot of variation in the heights of children in our class. tree →
• We played a variation of tag where you freeze. tree →
• Temperature variation between day and night is large in the desert. tree →
• Every snowflake shows variation in shape. tree →
• This cake is a variation on Gran's recipe. tree →
• The composer wrote ten variations on a simple tune. tree →
• We should be able to trace this re-introduction by the variation in titles. tree →

Note

Countable (a variation, variations) or uncountable (much variation). Verb: vary. In data, the range (largest − smallest) is one simple measure of variation: heights 120–150 cm give a range of 30 cm.