Definition of variation

• n. - The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing; modification; alternation; mutation; diversity; deviation; as, a variation of color in different lights; a variation in size; variation of language.
• n. - Extent to which a thing varies; amount of departure from a position or state; amount or rate of change.
• n. - Change of termination of words, as in declension, conjugation, derivation, etc.
• n. - Repetition of a theme or melody with fanciful embellishments or modifications, in time, tune, or harmony, or sometimes change of key; the presentation of a musical thought in new and varied aspects, yet so that the essential features of the original shall still preserve their identity.
• n. - One of the different arrangements which can be made of any number of quantities taking a certain number of them together.