variety

== English == === 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). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) enPR: və-rīʹĭ-tē, IPA(key): /vəˈɹaɪ.ɪ.ti/ (General American) IPA(key): /vəˈɹaɪ.ə.ti/, /-ɾi/ Rhymes: -aɪɪti Hyphenation: va‧ri‧e‧ty === Noun === variety (countable and uncountable, plural varieties) (countable) A deviation or difference. A specific variation of something. (biology, loosely) An animal or plant (or a group of such animals or plants) with characteristics causing it to differ from other animals or plants of the same species; a strain or cultivar. (botany, taxonomy) A rank in a taxonomic classification below species and (if present) subspecies, and above form; hence, an organism of that rank. Synonym: (abbreviation) var. (linguistics) A specific form of a language, neutral to whether that form is an accent, dialect, register, etc., and to its prestige level. Synonyms: isolect, lect, languoid Near-synonym: dialect (sometimes synonymous) (philately) A stamp, or set of stamps, which has one or more characteristics (such as colour, paper, etc.) differing from other stamps in the same issue, especially if such differences are intentionally introduced. A collection or number of different things. Synonyms: array, assortment, spread Antonym: uniformity (algebra) In universal algebra: an equational class; the class of all algebraic structures of a given signature, satisfying a given set of identities. Synonyms: equational variety, variety of algebras (algebraic geometry) Ellipsis of algebraic variety (“the set of solutions of a given system of polynomial equations over the real or complex numbers; any of certain generalisations of such a set that preserves the geometric intuition implicit in the original definition”). (cybernetics) The total number of distinct states of a system; also, the logarithm to the base 2 of the total number of distinct states of a system. [from 1956.] (radio, television, theater) 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.”). (uncountable) The quality of being varied; diversity. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonuniformity Antonyms: sameness; see also Thesaurus:uniformity (radio, television, theater) The kind of entertainment given in variety performances or shows; also, the production of, or performance in, variety performances or shows. ==== Usage notes ==== Variety can be preceded with either a singular or plural form of the verb be: “there is a variety of options to choose from” and “there are a variety of options to choose from” are both considered grammatical. However, in the construction variety of [something], the word variety is generally followed by a plural noun and a plural form of be: “a variety of flavors were evident in the dish”. Variety of [noun] can be considered a contranym, either meaning a single type of [noun] or many types of [noun]. Therefore, ambiguity may arise if proper verb concordance is disregarded. ==== Alternative forms ==== variete (obsolete) varietie (obsolete) variëty (rare) ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== (cybernetics: logarithm): information entropy === References === === Further reading === algebraic variety on Wikipedia.Wikipedia variety (botany) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia variety (cybernetics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia variety (linguistics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia variety (universal algebra) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia variety (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “variety”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. “variety”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.