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Variable   /vˈɛriəbəl/   Listen
noun
Variable  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.



adjective
Variable  adj.  
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." "His heart, I know, how variable and vain!"
Variable exhaust (Steam Eng.), a blast pipe with an adjustable opening.
Variable quantity (Math.), a variable.
Variable-rate mortgage (Finance), a mortgage whose percentage interest rate varies depending on some agreed standard, such as the prime rate; used often in financing the purchase of a home. Such a mortgage usually has a lower initial interest rate than a fixed-rate mortgage, and this permits buyers of a home to finance the purchase a house of higher price than would be possible with a fixed-rate loan.
Variable stars (Astron.), fixed stars which vary in their brightness, usually in more or less uniform periods.
Synonyms: Changeable; mutable; fickle; wavering; unsteady; versatile; inconstant.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Variable" Quotes from Famous Books



... September [1609], faire weather, the wind variable betweene east and south; we steered away north northwest. At noone we found our height to bee 39 degrees, 3 minutes. The second, in the morning, close weather, the winde at south in the morning; from twelve untill two of the clocke we steered north northwest, and ...
— Great Epochs in American History, Volume I. - Voyages Of Discovery And Early Explorations: 1000 A.D.-1682 • Various

... important, subjects included within the range of meteorology, is not perhaps sufficiently realized in the minds of active participators in the world's stirring work. Irrespective of any scientific object, how much utility is there to all classes in what is commonly called 'weather wisdom'? In our variable climate, with a maritime population, numbers of small vessels, and especially fishing boats, how much life and property is risked unnecessarily by every unforeseen storm? Even animals, birds, and insects have a presaging instinct, perhaps a bodily feeling, that warns them; but man often ...
— Barometer and Weather Guide • Robert Fitzroy

... parentage. No such extreme variations are seen in any of the lower orders. Indeed, in one's lifetime one sees but very slight variation in any of the wild or domestic creatures, less in the wild than in the domestic because they are less under the influence of that most variable of animals, man. And man's variations are mainly mental and not physical. The higher we go in the scale of powers, the greater the variation and hence the more rapid the evolution. Probably man's body has not changed radically in vast cycles of time, but his mind has developed ...
— Time and Change • John Burroughs

... virtue might not men aspire? We need not say with Rousseau that men are naturally virtuous. The child, as Helvetius delighted to point out, will do that for a coral or a doll which he will do at a mature age for a title or a sceptre. Men are rather the infinitely malleable, variable stuff on which education ...
— Shelley, Godwin and Their Circle • H. N. Brailsford

... for example, to the property that a man creates and acquires in business enterprises, which are presumably undertaken for gain, and as a means of living rather than for themselves. All new machinery, all new methods, all uncertain and variable and non-universal undertakings, are no business for the State; they commence always as experiments of unascertained value, and next after the invention of money, there is no invention has so facilitated freedom and progress as the invention of ...
— A Modern Utopia • H. G. Wells


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