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.-extent to which a thing varies; amount of departure from a position or state; amount or rate of change.-change of termination of words, as in declension, conjugation, derivation, etc.-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.-one of the different arrangements which can be made of any number of quantities taking a certain number of them together.