Other forms: variations
A variation is one of the possible lines a game or a piece may follow. The main variation, a sharp variation, calculate the variation.
In chess a variation is a sequence of moves branching from a position, and opening theory is largely a catalogue of them. In music, variations are transformations of a theme — Bach's Goldberg Variations, Elgar's Enigma. In general use it means a difference within a set: seasonal variation, variation between samples. Note vary, variable; and genetic variation, which is what selection works on.
1nounvariationOne of the possible lines a game may follow.
“The chess player had studied every variation of that opening.”
2noundifferenceA difference within a set.
“There is a lot of variation in house prices across the country.”
variation is a difference or branch.
Latin variatio comes from variare, to change, from varius, diverse. Various, variety and vary come from the same diversity.
Latin
variātiō
Old French
variacion
Middle French
variation
English, today
variation
From Middle French variation, from Old French variacion, from Latin variātiō, from vary + -ation.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Chess & Card Games