variable

Borrowed from Old French variable, from Latin variare (“to change”), from varius (“different, various”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛəɹ.i.ə.bl̩/
• (US, Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA^(key): /ˈvæɹ.i.ə.bl̩/
• (US, Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛɹ.i.ə.bl̩/

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variable (comparative more variable, superlative most variable)

1. Able to vary.

   variable winds or seasons; a variable quantity

2. Likely to vary.
   • Shakespeare

     Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

3. Marked by diversity or difference.
4. (mathematics) Having no fixed quantitative value.
5. (biology) Tending to deviate from a normal or recognized type.

• (able to vary): alterable, flexible, changeable, mutable
• (likely to vary): fickle, fluctuating, inconstant, shifting, unstable, unsteady
• (marked by diversity or difference): varying
• (biology: tending to deviate from a normal or recognized type): aberrant

• (able to vary): constant, invariable, immutable, unalterable, unchangeable
• (likely to vary): constant, invariable, immutable, unchangeable
• (marked by diversity or difference): unchanging
• (mathematics: having no fixed quantitative value): constant, invariable

• variability
• variableness

variable (plural variables)

1. Something that is variable.
2. Something whose value may be dictated or discovered.
   • 2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193:

     Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.

   There are several variables to consider here.

3. (mathematics) A quantity that may assume any one of a set of values.
4. (mathematics) A symbol representing a variable.
5. (programming) A named memory location in which a program can store intermediate results and from which it can read them.
6. (astronomy) A variable star.
7. (nautical) A shifting wind, or one that varies in force.
8. (nautical, in the plural) Those parts of the sea where a steady wind is not expected, especially the parts between the trade-wind belts.

• (something that is variable): changeable
• (something whose value may be dictated or discovered): parameter
• (mathematics: a quantity that may assume any one of a set of values): variable quantity

• (something that is variable): constant, invariable

• See also Thesaurus:variable

• variable star

• argument
• variate

• variable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• variable in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• variable at OneLook Dictionary Search

From Latin variābilis.

variable (epicene, plural variables)

1. variable (able to vary)
2. variable (likely to vary)

variable f (plural variables)

1. (mathematics) variable (a quantity that may assume any one of a set of values)

• variación
• variar

From Latin variābilis.

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /və.ɾiˈa.blə/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /bə.ɾiˈa.blə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /va.ɾiˈa.ble/

variable (masculine and feminine plural variables)

1. variable (able to vary)
2. variable (likely to vary)
3. (mathematics) variable (having no fixed quantitative value)

variable f (plural variables)

1. variable (something that is variable)
2. (mathematics) variable (a quantity that may assume any one of a set of values)

• variació
• variar

variable

1. plural and definite singular attributive of variabel

variable

1. plural indefinite of variabel

From Latin variabilis.

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variable (plural variables)

1. variable

variable f (plural variables)

1. variable

• “variable” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• balivera

• variábel

From Latin variābilis.

variable m or f (plural variables)

1. variable, changeable

• invariable

variable f (plural variables)

1. variable

• variación
• variar

variable

1. singular definite of variabel
2. plural of variabel

variable

1. singular definite of variabel
2. plural of variabel

variable (plural variables)

1. variable

variable f (plural variables)

1. variable

variable

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of variabel.