variant

June 13, 2024 KIRU

variant

variant (UK and US): /ˈvɛəɹi.ənt/

Here's a breakdown of the sounds by syllable:

The word "variant" has the following word form variations:

Singular: variant
Plural: variants
Adjective: variant (This is the most common form)
Noun: variant (This is also a common form) No verb form exists for "variant."

You can use "variant" as both an adjective and a noun depending on the context. For example:

Adjective: "The researchers identified a variant form of the gene." (Here, "variant" describes the type of gene.)
Noun: "There are many variants of the English language spoken around the world." (Here, "variants" refers to the different forms themselves.)

Noun:

Definition: A form or version of something that differs slightly from the standard or type.
Synonyms: version, edition, modification, variation, alternative, deviation
Antonyms: standard, norm, original, archetype

Adjective:

Noun:

Biology: "Scientists are studying a new variant of the flu virus that seems more contagious than previous strains."
Literature: "This edition of the novel includes several variant spellings not found in the original manuscript."
Software Development: "The developers are testing different variants of the user interface to see which one performs better."

Adjective:

Newspapers: "The report details the economic impact of climate change on various regions, highlighting the variant weather patterns expected."
Music: "The band is known for their energetic live shows, where they often perform variant arrangements of their popular songs."
General Public Discourse: "There are many variant cooking styles for pasta, depending on the region and specific dish."
Entertainment Media: "In the video game, players can unlock variant costumes for their characters with unique abilities."

10 Famous Quotes Using the term Variant

Noun:

Biology: "Researchers are analysing genetic variants in the population to identify potential risk factors for certain diseases."
Literature: "J.K. Rowling included several deleted scenes and variant character names in the special edition of the Harry Potter series."
Linguistics: "Many linguists study the historical development of language variants, such as dialects and accents."

Adjective:

Newspapers: "The police are searching for a suspect in a hit-and-run incident involving a variant model of a red sedan."
Movies: "The superhero film explores the concept of a multiverse with variant versions of the main characters."
Social Media: "This tweet thread discusses the different variant spellings of a commonly misused word."
Sports: "The athlete wore a variant uniform design to raise awareness for a social cause."

The word "variant" is like a distant cousin of the word "vary." They both share a history that goes back to Latin.

In ancient Rome, they had a word "variare" which basically meant "to change" or "to be different."
This Latin word eventually gave birth to a present participle (a verb form that describes something ongoing) called "varians." This "varians" kind of means "the act of changing."
French, which borrowed a lot of words from Latin, took "varians" and turned it into "variant" sometime in the Middle Ages (around 1300s).
English then borrowed "variant" from French, and that's how we got the word we use today.

So, the first time "variant" showed up in English, it meant something that was changing or different, which is pretty close to how we use it today!

Variant strain/form/type: This is a common way to refer to a slightly different version of something, especially in science and biology (e.g., "a variant strain of the flu").

Natural variant: This describes a variation that occurs without human intervention (e.g., "natural variants in plant growth due to sunlight").
Genetic variant: This refers to a specific difference in an organism's genetic makeup (e.g., "a genetic variant linked to increased risk of heart disease").
Identify/detect variants: This describes the process of finding and recognizing different versions of something (e.g., "scientists are identifying new COVID-19 variants").
Playing the variant: This is a more niche term used in some card games, particularly poker, where it refers to using alternative rules or playing with a wild card (e.g., "tonight we're playing a variant of Texas Hold'em with jokers as wild cards").