Adjacent Words

Variable definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VA'RIABLE, a.
1. That may vary or alter; capable of alteration in any manner; changeable; as variable winds or seasons; variable colors.
2. Susceptible of change; liable to change; mutable; fickle; unsteady; inconstant; as, the affections of men are variable; passions are variable.
His heart I know, how variable and vain.
3. In mathematics, subject to continual increase or decrease; in opposition to constant, retaining the same value.
VA'RIABLE, n. In mathematics, a quantity which is in a state of continual increase or decrease. The indefinitely small quantity by which a variable is continually increased or diminished, is called its differential, and the method of finding these quantities, the differential calculus.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: liable to or capable of change; "rainfall in the tropics is notoriously variable"; "variable winds"; "variable expenses" [ant: invariable]
2: marked by diversity or difference; "the varying angles of roof slope"; "nature is infinitely variable" [syn: varying, variable]
3: (used of a device) designed so that a property (as e.g. light) can be varied; "a variable capacitor"; "variable filters in front of the mercury xenon lights" n
1: something that is likely to vary; something that is subject to variation; "the weather is one variable to be considered"
2: a quantity that can assume any of a set of values [syn: variable, variable quantity]
3: a star that varies noticeably in brightness [syn: variable star, variable]
4: a symbol (like x or y) that is used in mathematical or logical expressions to represent a variable quantity

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin variabilis, from variare to vary Date: 14th century 1. a. able or apt to vary ; subject to variation or changes <variable winds> <variable costs> b. fickle, inconstant 2. characterized by variations 3. having the characteristics of a variable 4. not true to type ; aberrant — used of a biological group or character • variability noun • variableness noun • variably adverb II. noun Date: 1816 1. a. a quantity that may assume any one of a set of values b. a symbol representing a variable 2. something that is variable 3. variable star

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 a that can be varied or adapted (a rod of variable length; the pressure is variable). b (of a gear) designed to give varying speeds. 2 apt to vary; not constant; unsteady (a variable mood; variable fortunes). 3 Math. (of a quantity) indeterminate; able to assume different numerical values. 4 (of wind or currents) tending to change direction. 5 Astron. (of a star) periodically varying in brightness. 6 Bot. & Zool. (of a species) including individuals or groups that depart from the type. 7 Biol. (of an organism or part of it) tending to change in structure or function. --n. 1 a variable thing or quantity. 2 Math. a variable quantity. 3 Naut. a a shifting wind. b (in pl.) the region between the NE and SE trade winds. Derivatives: variability n. variableness n. variably adv. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L variabilis (as VARY)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Variable Va"ri*a*ble, n. 1. That which is variable; that which varies, or is subject to change. 2. (Math.) A quantity which may increase or decrease; a quantity which admits of an infinite number of values in the same expression; a variable quantity; as, in the equation x^2 - y^2 = R^2, x and y are variables. 3. (Naut.) (a) A shifting wind, or one that varies in force. (b) pl. Those parts of the sea where a steady wind is not expected, especially the parts between the trade-wind belts. Independent variable (Math.), that one of two or more variables, connected with each other in any way whatever, to which changes are supposed to be given at will. Thus, in the equation x^2 - y^2 = R^2, if arbitrary changes are supposed to be given to x, then x is the independent variable, and y is called a function of x. There may be two or more independent variables in an equation or problem. Cf. Dependent variable, under Dependent.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Variable Va"ri*a*ble, a. [L. variabilis: cf. F. variable.] 1. Having the capacity of varying or changing; capable of alternation in any manner; changeable; as, variable winds or seasons; a variable quantity. 2. Liable to vary; too susceptible of change; mutable; fickle; unsteady; inconstant; as, the affections of men are variable; passions are variable. Lest that thy love prove likewise variable. --Shak. His heart, I know, how variable and vain! --Milton. Variable exhaust (Steam Eng.), a blast pipe with an adjustable opening. Variable quantity (Math.), a variable. Variable stars (Astron.), fixed stars which vary in their brightness, usually in more or less uniform periods.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(variables) 1. Something that is variable changes quite often, and there usually seems to be no fixed pattern to these changes. The potassium content of foodstuffs is very variable... ...a variable rate of interest. ADJ • variability There's a great deal of variability between individuals. N-UNCOUNT 2. A variable is a factor that can change in quality, quantity, or size, which you have to take into account in a situation. Decisions could be made on the basis of price, delivery dates, after-sales service or any other variable... N-COUNT 3. A variable is a quantity that can have any one of a set of values. (TECHNICAL) It is conventional to place the independent variable on the right-hand side of an equation. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Changeable, mutable, shifting. 2. Inconstant, unsteady, fickle, vacillating, wavering, fluctuating, fitful, mutable, versatile, shifting.

Moby Thesaurus

able to adapt, adaptable, adjustable, adrift, afloat, agnostic, alterable, alterative, alternating, ambiguous, amorphous, broken, capricious, careening, catchy, chancy, changeable, changeful, changing, checkered, choppy, desultory, deviable, deviating, deviative, deviatory, dicey, different, disconnected, discontinuous, disorderly, divaricate, divergent, diversified, diversiform, dizzy, doubting, eccentric, equivocal, erose, erratic, ever-changing, fast and loose, fickle, fitful, flexible, flickering, flighty, flitting, fluctuating, fluid, freakish, giddy, guttering, halting, herky-jerky, hesitant, hesitating, heteroclite, immethodical, impermanent, impetuous, impulsive, incalculable, inconsistent, inconstant, indecisive, indemonstrable, infirm, intermittent, intermitting, irregular, irresolute, irresponsible, jagged, jerky, kaleidoscopic, lurching, malleable, many-sided, mazy, mercurial, metamorphic, mobile, modifiable, moody, motley, movable, mutable, nonconformist, nonstandard, nonuniform, patchy, permutable, plastic, pluralistic, polysemous, protean, proteiform, ragged, rambling, resilient, restless, rough, roving, rubbery, scatterbrained, scrappy, shapeless, shifting, shifty, shuffling, skeptical, slippery, snatchy, spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, spastic, spineless, sporadic, spotty, staggering, supple, temperamental, ticklish, touch-and-go, transient, transitory, uncertain, unconfirmable, uncontrolled, unconvinced, undependable, undisciplined, undivinable, unequable, unequal, uneven, unfixed, unforeseeable, unmethodical, unmetrical, unorthodox, unpersuaded, unpredictable, unprovable, unregular, unreliable, unrestrained, unrhythmical, unsettled, unstable, unstable as water, unstaid, unsteadfast, unsteady, unsure, unsystematic, ununiform, unverifiable, vacillating, vagrant, variegated, variform, various, varying, veering, vicissitudinary, vicissitudinous, volatile, wandering, wanton, wavering, wavery, wavy, wayward, whimsical, wishy-washy, wobbling, wobbly