variantadj.n.
/ˈvɛːrɪənt/, U.S. /ˈvɛriənt/ A. adj.
1. † b. Acting in a changeable or fickle manner.† c. Dissentient, disagreeing. Obsolete.
a. Of persons: Changeful in disposition or purpose; inconstant, fickle. Also const. of or in. Now rare.
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the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective]
unfastc888
unstathelfasteOE
unsteadfasta1200
fleeting?c1225
changeablea1275
ficklea1275
unstablec1290
waveringc1315
flickerc1325
loose in the haftc1325
motleyc1380
unsadc1384
variablea1387
variantc1386
ticklec1400
inconstant1402
flitting1413
brittle1420
plianta1425
mutablec1425
shittle1440
shittle-witted1448
moonishc1450
unconstant1483
unfirm1483
varying?a1500
pliablea1513
fluctuant1575
changeling1577
shittle-headed1580
cheverel1583
off and on1583
chameleon-like1589
changeful1590
limber1602
unsteady1604
ticklish1606
skittish1609
startling1619
labile1623
uncertaina1625
cheverelized1625
remuant1625
fluctuate1631
fluctuary1632
various1636
contrarious1643
epileptical1646
fluxilea1654
shittle-braineda1655
multivolent1656
totter-headed1662
on and off1668
self-inconsistent1678
weathercocka1680
whifflinga1680
versatile1682
veering1684
fast and loose1697
inconsistent1709
insteadfast1728
unfixing1810
unsteadied1814
chameleonic1821
labefact1874
ballastless1884
weathercocky1886
whiffle-minded1902
c1386 G. Chaucer Canon's Yeoman's Tale 622 On his falshede fayn wold I me wreke, If I wist how, But he is heer and there, He is so variant, he byt no where.
c1450 Mankind 274 in Macro Plays 11 Be stedefast in condycyon! se ȝe be not varyant!
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 1974 Now þow wolt, & now þow nolt;..Now sey oon, & sith a-nothir; so variant of mynde!
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xxvii. 130 To be..In stable love fixt and not variaunt.
?1548 J. Bale Image Bothe Churches (new ed.) ii. sig. giijv They are..no where stedefast and vnforme, but euerye where variaunt and folyshe.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iv. 145 He was also deceitfull, variant, and fraudulent.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 360 Calm and resolute, if occasionally variant of mood.
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1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Rolls) VIII. 299 He was to large of ȝiftes,..redy to speke and variaunt of dedes.
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the mind > language > statement > dissent or disagreement > [adjective]
variant1412
discordant1474
disagreeing1550
dissenting1550
dissident?c1550
disassentinga1572
differinga1586
disagreed1596
discorded1597
incompliable1625
unconsented1631
two1650
dissentient1651
dissentive1661
unassenting1836
divaricate1855
1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy iii. 3657 Sethen ȝe alle assenten and accorde, Fro ȝoure sentence I wil nat discorde, In no wyse to be variaunt.
2. † b. Of fortune, conditions, etc.: = variable adj. 1a. Obsolete. (In early use partly after sense A. 1)
a. Of things: Exhibiting variation or change; tending to vary or alter; not remaining uniform.
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the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]
slidinga900
wankleeOE
windyc1000
unsteadfastc1200
fleeting?c1225
loose?c1225
brotelc1315
unstablec1340
varyingc1340
variantc1374
motleyc1380
ungroundedc1380
muablea1393
passiblea1393
remuablea1393
changeablea1398
movablea1398
variablec1397
slidderya1400
ticklec1400
variantc1412
flitting1413
mutable?a1425
movingc1425
flaskisable1430
flickering1430
transmutablec1430
vertible1447
brittlea1450
ficklea1450
permutablec1450
unfirmc1450
uncertain1477
turnable1483
unsteadfast1483
vagrantc1522
inconstant1526
alterable?1531
stirringc1540
slippery1548
various1552
slid?1553
mutala1561
rolling1561
weathery1563
unconstant1568
interchangeable1574
fluctuant1575
stayless1575
transitive1575
voluble1575
changeling1577
queasy1579
desultory1581
huff-puff1582
unstaid1586
vagrant1586
changeful1590
floating1594
Protean1594
unstayed1594
swimming1596
anchorless1597
mobilec1600
ticklish1601
catching1603
labile1603
unrooted1604
quicksilvered1605
versatile1605
insubstantial1607
uncertain1609
brandling1611
rootless1611
squeasy1611
wind-changinga1616
insolid1618
ambulatory1625
versatilous1629
plastic1633
desultorious1637
unbottomed1641
fluid1642
fluent1648
yea-and-nay1648
versipellous1650
flexile1651
uncentred1652
variating1653
chequered1656
slideable1662
transchangeative1662
weathercock-like1663
flicketing1674
fluxa1677
lapsable1678
wanton1681
veering1684
upon the weathercock1702
contingent1703
unsettled?1726
fermentable1731
afloat1757
brickle1768
wavy1795
vagarious1798
unsettled1803
fitful1810
metamorphosical1811
undulating1815
tittupya1817
titubant1817
mutative1818
papier mâché1818
teetotum1819
vacillating1822
capricious1823
sensitive1828
quicksilvery1829
unengrafted1829
fluxionala1834
proteiform1833
liquid1835
tottlish1835
kaleidoscopic1846
versative1846
kaleidoscopical1858
tottery1861
choppy1865
variative1874
variational1879
wimbly-wambly1881
fluctuable1882
shifty1882
giveable1884
shifty1884
tippy1886
mutatory1890
upsettable1890
rocky1897
undulatory1897
streaky1898
tottly1905
tipply1906
up and down1907
inertialess1927
sometimey1946
rise-and-fall1950
switchable1961
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (1868) i. met. v. 22 Þi myȝt attempreþ þo variauntz sesons of þe ȝere.
c1400 Pety Job 472 in 26 Pol. Poems 136 My thoughtes wandre wyde whare, For they ben, lorde, full variaunte.
c1430 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 71 God of his grace..preserve youre variaunt brutilnesse.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer ii. f. cccxlii After the varyaunt opinyon in false hertes of vnstable people.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. iv. xv. 103 Þe cry of romanis was variant, slaw, & but curage.
1671 R. McWard True Non-conformist 136 The Ordinances..therefore were appointed..in a variant and mutable forme.
c1674 Acc. Scotland's Griev. under Lauderdale's Min. 10 It was also both inconstant in its being, and variant in its number and method.
1751 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) XIV. 40 Nouns Variant in their gender are dies and finis.
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c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 66 So flyttyng is sche [sc. Fortune], and so wariant, Ther is no trust vpon hir fair lawhyng.
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur xx. xvii. 827 But fortune is soo varyaunt, and the whele soo meuable, there nys none constaunte abydynge.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xi. viii. 117 The variant chance Of our onstabill lyfe.
1561 Newe Enterlude Script. Queene Hester sig. Fijv Contente To thinke it no lyghtnes, nor wytte inconstante But the necessytie of tymes varyant.
a1586 W. Dunbar in W. A. Craigie Maitland Folio MS (1919) I. 386 So variant is þis warldis rent That nane þairof can be content.
c. Of wind: Changing, shifting. rare.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [adjective] > changeable
flexible1612
variable1665
veerable1694
baffling1778
variant1847
1847 H. W. Longfellow Evangeline i. i. 82 Above in the variant breezes Numberless noisy weathercocks rattled.
3. † b. Of colours: Varied, variegated. Also of cloth or an animal in respect of colour. Obsolete.
a. Exhibiting difference or variety; diversified, varied; diverse, different.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [adjective]
sunderlyeOE
manifoldeOE
selcoutha1000
felefoldc1000
mislichOE
alkinOE
manykinOE
fele-kync1175
serekina1300
sundera1325
sundrya1325
serea1340
divers1340
varyingc1340
variantc1380
muchfoldc1384
serelepesa1400
serelepya1400
multifaryc1460
sundryfoldc1460
multiplicate?a1475
variable?a1475
sundrilyc1480
diversea1542
particoloured1591
multifarious1593
Protean1594
daedal1596
choiceful1605
Daedalian1605
multiplex1606
variated1608
diversified1611
multiplicious1617
variousa1634
multivarious1636
mosaic1644
multiple1647
omnigenous1650
chequered1656
plurifarious1656
ununiform1660
variate1677
disuniform1687
Proteusian1689
unsteady1690
unequable1693
inequable1721
variegating1727
varied1733
multitudinous1744
multifold1806
polygeneous1818
unequalized1822
ruleless1836
varicoloured185.
non-uniform1856
omnigener1857
polytypic1858
multiferous1860
variatious1871
variegated1872
polytypical1890
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 301 These freris habitis,..þat ben þus large & variaunt as weren habitis of pharisees.
a1400–50 Alexander 5651 Þai ware visid all in versis in variant lettirs.
c1400 Rom. Rose 1917 The arwis were so fulle of rage, So variaunt of diversitee.
1482 Monk of Evesham lvii. 110 A variant medelyng of melody sownyd wyth alle.
1526 R. Whitford tr. Martiloge (1893) 19 He was put to many varyaunt turmentes.
1584 King James VI & I Ess. Prentise Poesie sig. Eiiij So Iob and Ieremie..Did right descryue their ioyes, their woes and torts, In variant verse of hundreth thousand sorts.
?1611 G. Chapman in tr. Homer Iliads ii. Comm. The decorum that some poor critics have stood upon..is far from the variant order of nature.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vi. 291 They who would trauerse earths variant face.
a1817 T. Dwight Trav. New-Eng. & N.-Y. (1821) II. 457 The plains are of moderate extent: the surface being almost every where variant, and undulating.
1855 P. J. Bailey Mystic 105 The angels..'stablishing In variant countries various roots of men.
1858 H. Bushnell Nature & Supernatural ix. 260 He can produce variant results through invariable causes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > variegation > [adjective] > of colour
varianta1400
variatec1440
variable1553
gangean1623
variegated1664
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric of specific colour > [adjective]
motleyc1380
varianta1400
shadowed1639
mixture1784
corbeau1810
Lovat1895
tone-on-tone1939
the world > animals > animal body > markings or colourings > [adjective] > dappled or spotted
spotteda1325
flecked1377
dappledc1400
maculous?a1425
mailedc1425
variant1502
garled1506
sparked1552
menil1611
marbled1629
ticked1688
varied1715
maculose1727
a1400–50 Alexander 4336 Nouthire..transmitte we na vebbis To vermylion ne violett ne variant littis.
1471 G. Ripley Compound of Alchymy vi. viii, in E. Ashmole Theatrum Chem. Britannicum (1652) 163 By colors varyante aye new and new.
1473–4 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 20 vij elne of tartar of variant hewis to lyne a gowne of blac.
1502 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1900) II. 346 Ane variant hors giffin to the King.
1507 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1901) III. 260 Taffeti, grene, rede, blew, and variant.
1549 Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887) 57 Ane gown of wareant champit worset, price four li. xs.
1575 32nd Gen. Assemblie in A. Peterkin Bk. Universall Kirk Scotl. (1839) 149 We think..unseemly..all kinde of..licht and variant hewis in cloathing, as red, blew, ȝellow, and sicklyke.
1600 Wisdome Doctor Dodypoll i. sig. A3 Welcome bright Morne, that with thy golden rayes, Reueal'st the variant colours of the world.
4.
a. Differing or discrepant from something; †also const. to (= from).
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the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [adjective] > different from
unlikec1175
variantc1400
variable1509
repugnant1551
unconform1653
inconform1659
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) x. 122 And alle theise han manye Articles of oure Feythe, and to othere thei ben varyaunt.
1473–5 in Cal. Proc. Chanc. Q. Eliz. (1830) II. Pref. 60 The matter comprised in the side replicacion is new mater variaunt from her bill.
1534 R. Whittington tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Tullyes Offyces i. sig. D.8 It is no thynge varyaunt fro the dignyte of a wyse man.
1548 E. Gest Treat. againste Masse sig. Kviiv Thee prieste pryvee Masse..is not quadrant, but variant to the sayd word [of God].
1741 T. Robinson Common Law of Kent ii. 9 Most of the Customs of this Kingdom variant from the Common Law.
1771 Ann. Reg. 1770 143/2 The publication in the papers was variant from that which he sent home.
1860 J. P. Kennedy Mem. W. Wirt I. xxii. 355 His first impressions of him..are singularly variant from those which [etc.].
1880 A. D. Whitney Odd or Even? xli Words that were absurdly variant from all her present mood.
b. Without const. (Cf. various adj. 8d.)
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1586 J. Ferne Blazon of Gentrie To Innes of Court, sig. Aviv They shall find the interpretations thereof many wayes variant and diuers.
1865 Visct. Strangford Sel. Writings (1869) II. 187 With a variant spelling of the body of the word.
1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. vi. xx. 373 One of the numberless instances of variant readings in the Hebrew.
1897 J. M. Whiton Reconsid. & Reinforcem. 23 These..are definitions not too variant to stand indifferently for synonyms of spirit.
c. Biology. Varying or diverging from type.
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the world > life > biology > taxonomy > [adjective] > varying from type
variable1859
variant1881
1881 Athenæum No. 2818. 560 ‘Angela’ is Spielhagen's variant child.
1896 Advance (Chicago) 23 Apr. 592/1 In nature a variant minority is liable to be diluted and to disappear by intermixture.
B. n.
1.
a. A form or modification differing in some respect from other forms of the same thing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [noun] > a variant or variation
variance1497
vary1600
variousness1628
varying1628
variegation1668
modification1669
diversificationa1676
variation1699
variant1849
1849 A. H. Layard Nineveh & Remains II. ii. i. 171 (note) Many of these [cuneiform] characters are undoubtedly what are termed ‘variants’; that is, merely a different way of forming the same letter.
1862 G. Rawlinson Five Great Monarchies: Chaldæa I. 143 Il, of course, is but a variant of El.
1869 A. J. Ellis On Early Eng. Pronunc. I. i. iv. 248 Other variants of course occur from carelessness.
1869 G. Rawlinson Man. Anc. Hist. 336 The names seem, however, to be chiefly variants of the general ethnic title.
b. A various reading; spec. a textual variation in two or more copies of a printed work (not necessarily implying reimpression).
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > textual criticism > version of text > [noun] > reading > various reading
varia lectioa1651
various lections1659
various reading(s)1659
variant1855
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > textual criticism > version of text > [noun] > reading > various reading > textual variation in two or more copies
variant1927
1855 F. A. Paley in tr. Aeschylus Agamemnon in Trag. 381/2 The variants -οντο and -όντες only show that a termination was added to the original -ον.
1881 B. F. Westcott & F. J. A. Hort New Test. in Orig. Greek II. Introd. i. 3 The primary work of textual criticism is merely to discriminate the erroneous variants from the true.
1927 R. B. McKerrow Introd. Bibliogr. ii. vi. 208 Besides these added lines, The Devil's Charter exhibits a very large number of striking variants in different copies, some being mere corrections of literal errors, others important alterations in wording.
1953 C. Hinman in Shakespeare Q. IV. 280 I have been able to construct an instrument which..has enabled me to collate well over a hundred folio pages a day for some months... Taking reasonable care, the investigator can hardly fail to note any variant, however minute, in two copies of the page being examined.
1972 P. Gaskell New Introd. Bibliogr. 357 Warner Barnes..machine-collated an average of six copies of each of his author's eighteen primary editions... In ten of them he found possible evidence of concealed..reimpressions; in another four, variant states of the type not indicating reimpression... Most of the variants shown up by the machine were trivial.
2. A variation of the original work, story, song, etc.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > textual criticism > version of text > [noun] > variant version
variant1872
1872 Ralston Songs Russian People 200 There are many variants of the same song, but they do not differ materially.
1877 A. B. Edwards Thousand Miles up Nile Pref. p. xiii Religious books, variants of the Ritual, moral essays, maxims.
1885 E. Clodd Myths & Dreams i. iv. 70 They are the variants of stories presumably related in the Aryan fatherland.
3. Natural History. A variant form or type.
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the world > life > biology > taxonomy > [noun] > variation from a type > a variant form
variant1895
1895 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. II.
Draft additions June 2003
variant CJD n. Medicine (in full variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) a form of spongiform encephalopathy distinguished from typical (sporadic) Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease by earlier age of onset, early psychiatric and sensory symptoms, and certain neuropathological features (esp. prominent prion protein plaques), and thought to be causally linked with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE); abbreviated vCJD.
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1997 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94 14279/1 Investigations of the prion diseases have taken on new significance with the reports of more than 20 cases of an atypical, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCGD) in teenagers and young adults.
1999 Lancet 2 Jan. 18 The agent that causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (variant CJD) is indistinguishable from the causative agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
2000 Times 30 Aug. i. 9/1 Ministers believe that they must take every possible precaution to prevent the risk of patients contracting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).
2003 Independent (Nexis) 21 Apr. Other diseases such as variant-CJD, linked with BSE in cows,..are transmitted through food.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.c1374