Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of diverse kinds.
  • adjective Unlike; different.
  • adjective Being more than one; several.
  • adjective Varied in nature or character; not uniform.
  • pronoun Several different people or things.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Differing from one another; different; diverse; manifold: as, men of various occupations.
  • Divers; several.
  • Changeable; uncertain; inconstant; variable; unfixed.
  • Exhibiting different characters; variform; diversiform; multiform.
  • Having a diversity of features; not uniform or monotonous; diversified.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Different; diverse; several; manifold.
  • adjective Changeable; uncertain; inconstant; variable.
  • adjective Variegated; diversified; not monotonous.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • determiner more than one indeterminate thing
  • adjective having a broad range (of different elements).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective distinctly dissimilar or unlike
  • adjective considered individually
  • adjective of many different kinds purposefully arranged but lacking any uniformity
  • adjective having great diversity or variety

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin varius.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French varieux, from Latin varius ("manifold, diverse, various, party-colored, variegated, also changing, changeable, fickle, etc.")

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Examples

  • It ran the Brown stimulus, which we define as the various measures taken in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report, through their computers – and the resultant graphs are fascinating.

    How Brown's stimulus will destroy jobs 2009

  • Investigators are still amassing a great deal of information based on eyewitnesses and what they called various sources.

    CNN Transcript Oct 15, 2002 2002

  • Mr. Lieberman also criticized what he called various efforts by the

    NYT > Home Page 2010

  • Mr. Lieberman also criticized what he called various efforts by the

    NYT > Home Page 2010

  • Some absolutely promiscuous butchers label various cuts of meat London broil, including flank steak, sirloin tip, top round, etc.

    The Big Apple 2009

  • That the Authors Guild has not tried to create an RIAA-like entity in various is somewhat surprising – maybe it’s coming soon, I do not know.

    Arrrrr and arrrggggh! « 2009

  • He was calling various officials in the administration to ask if Carter really listened to Mondale.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • He was calling various officials in the administration to ask if Carter really listened to Mondale.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • He was calling various officials in the administration to ask if Carter really listened to Mondale.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • I am a little on the OCD side about how they are organized, so even though you might see some space on the left in various food shots, that space is reserved for baking books and it is cooking books I am out of space for (although dessert books are not far behind).

    Some Kitchen Photos & Some Inadvertantly Gooey Peppermint Brownies Laura 2009

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