variant
variant Lexical Profile
variant Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A form or version of something that differs in some respect from other forms of the same thing or from a standard.
"Checkers has many regional variants played with slightly different board sizes and rules around the world."
In biology and virology, a subtype of a microorganism, virus, or gene that is genetically distinct from a main strain due to one or more mutations.
"Public health researchers closely monitor emerging viral variants to assess whether existing vaccines remain effective."
In linguistics and textual criticism, one of two or more alternative spellings, pronunciations, or manuscript readings of the same word or passage.
"The philologist compared the textual variants across three surviving fourteenth-century manuscripts."
• adjective
Differing from a standard, norm, or other forms of the same thing; exhibiting slight modification or divergence.
"The dictionary lists several variant spellings for the medieval surname."
• Rhymes for variant
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 14th century from Old French variant, which derives from the Latin present participle varians (from variare, meaning 'to change' or 'to diversify').
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.