variant: Meaning and Definition of

var•i•ant

Pronunciation: (vâr'ē-unt), [key]
— adj.
  1. tending to change or alter; exhibiting variety or diversity; varying: variant shades of color.
  2. not agreeing or conforming; differing, esp. from something of the same general kind.
  3. not definitive, as a version of part of a text; different; alternative: a variant reading.
  4. not universally accepted.
—n.
  1. a person or thing that varies.
  2. a different spelling, pronunciation, or form of the same word: “Vehemency” is a variant of “vehemence.”
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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