variety

noun

Etymology: From Middle French varieté (“variety”) (modern French variété (“variety; genre, type”)) or directly from its etymon Latin varietās (“difference; diversity, variety”) + English -ty (suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives); by surface analysis, various + -ety. Varietās is derived from varius (“different, diverse, various; variegated”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“to abandon; to give out; to leave”)) + -tās (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns indicating a state of being). The English word displaced the native Old English mislīcnes. Sense 1.3.2 (“total number of distinct states of a system; logarithm to the base 2 of the total number of distinct states of a system”) was coined by the English psychiatrist William Ross Ashby (1903–1972) in his work An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956). Cognates * Galician variedade (“variety”) * Italian varietà (“difference; variety”) * Portuguese variedade (“variety”) * Spanish variedad (“breed; variety”)

1. A deviation or difference.

   “The difference, therefore, in theſe animals, ariſes rather from their habits than their confirmation; and, upon examination, there will be leſs variety found betvween them than between birds that live upon land, and thoſe that ſwim upon the water.”

2. A specific variation of something.

   “The ſpirit of that competition burns / With all varieties of ill by turns, / Each vainly magnifies his own ſucceſs, / Reſents his fellows, wiſhes it were leſs, […]”

   “Yet the task of composing dramatic varieties, of training players, and deliberating in the theatrical senate, or even of expressing philosophically his opinions on these points, could not wholly occupy such a mind as his.”

3. A specific variation of something.

   “Many more ſorts of varieties of theſe kindes [of Aconitum anthora] there are, but theſe onely, as the moſt ſpecious, are nourſed vp in Floriſts Gardens for pleaſure; the other are kept by ſuch as are Catholicke obſeruers of all natures ſtore.”

   “But of all theſe varieties of Roſes, the beſt and moſt eſtemed amongſt the Red, are thoſe called the Roſe of the VVorld, the Red Belgick, the Red Marble, the Roſe vvithout Thorns, and the Red Provence Roſe.”

4. A specific variation of something.

   “Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum is a variety of Capsicum annuum commonly known as chiltepin or Indian pepper.”

5. A specific variation of something.

   “Near-synonym: dialect (sometimes synonymous)”

   “The mere existence of a dictionary of a certain variety of English does not automatically confer acceptance of that variety.”

6. A specific variation of something.
7. A collection or number of different things.

   “But nether in this maner, nor any other particular procedyng, can we ſufficiently direct yow: but, notyng unto yow the generalitees of our deſyre, referr yow to apply your doings to the varieté and occurrency of thyngs there.”

   “And in this may receiue ſome immediate benefit, if by contemplation, hee behold the varietie of temporary bleſſings, no part in the Vniuerſe exceeding theſe, not vvith-held from Pagan people afforded by Gods al-knovving and guiding Prouidence, vvhich notvvithſtanding being mixt vvith vnthankfulneſſe, damnable Idolatry, and variety of carnall obiects turne to their greater diſtruction, and endleſſe miſeries.”

8. A collection or number of different things.
9. A collection or number of different things.
10. A collection or number of different things.
11. Ellipsis of variety performance or variety show (“a type of entertainment featuring a succession of short, unrelated performances by various artistes such as (depending on the medium) acrobats, comedians, dancers, magicians, singers, etc.”).
12. The quality of being varied; diversity.

    “Variety is the spice of life.”

    “Nor is our body made of one parte onely, but of manye and diuerſe. […] The diuers placyng and vſe is not to the member reprochful, but this varietie rather apertayneth to the welth of the whole body.”

13. The kind of entertainment given in variety performances or shows; also, the production of, or performance in, variety performances or shows.