Standard Lemma guide

various

adj · det · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈvɛəɹi.əs/
  • General-American: /ˈvɛəɹi.əs/ without the Mary–marry–merry merger
  • General-American: /ˈvæɹi.əs/ without the Mary–marry–merry merger; among some speakers
  • US: non-Mary-marry-merry Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: non-Mary-marry-merry Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈvɛɹi.əs/ General American, Mary–marry–merry merger
  • US: Mary-marry-merry Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛəɹi.əs
  • rhymes with -æɹi.əs
  • CMU ARPABET: V EH1 R IY0 AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Having a broad range (of different elements).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • The reasons are various.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

That varies or differs from others; variant; different, sundry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, not-comparable

Examples

  • a various reading of a Biblical text

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

det

Meaning 3

More than one (of an indeterminate set of things).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Various books have been taken.
  • There are various ways to fix the problem.
  • You have broken various of the rules.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

of many different kinds purposefully arranged but lacking any uniformity

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • assorted sizes
  • his disguises are many and various
  • various experiments have failed to disprove the theory
  • cited various reasons for his behavior

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: assorted

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

distinctly dissimilar or unlike

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • celebrities as diverse as Bob Hope and Bob Dylan
  • animals as various as the jaguar and the cavy and the sloth

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: diverse

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

having great diversity or variety

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • his various achievements are impressive
  • his vast and versatile erudition

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: versatile

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French varieux, from Latin varius (“manifold, diverse, various, parti-colored, variegated, also changing, changeable, fickle, etc.”). By surface analysis, vary + -ous.

Across languages

Translations

116 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مُخْتَلِف (muḵtalif) — an eclectic range of
  • Arabic: مُتَنَوَّع (mutanawwaʕ) — an eclectic range of
  • Arabic: شَتَّى (šattā) — an eclectic range of
  • Armenian: տարբեր (tarber) — an eclectic range of
  • Azerbaijani: müxtəlif — an eclectic range of
  • Azerbaijani: cürbəcür — an eclectic range of
  • Bashkir: төрлө (törlö) — an eclectic range of
  • Basque: askotariko — an eclectic range of
  • Belarusian: ро́зны (rózny) — an eclectic range of
  • Bulgarian: разли́чен (razlíčen) — an eclectic range of
  • Bulgarian: ра́зен (rázen) — an eclectic range of
  • Burmese: အဖုံဖုံ (a.hpumhpum) — an eclectic range of
  • Catalan: varis — an eclectic range of
  • Chinese Mandarin: 各種(的) /各种(的) (gèzhǒng de) — an eclectic range of
  • Czech: rozdílný — an eclectic range of
  • Czech: rozličný — an eclectic range of
  • Czech: různý — an eclectic range of
  • Czech: rozmanitý — an eclectic range of
  • Danish: forskellige — an eclectic range of
  • Dutch: verscheiden — an eclectic range of
  • Dutch: uiteenlopend — an eclectic range of
  • Dutch: divers — an eclectic range of
  • Esperanto: diversa — an eclectic range of
  • Finnish: eri — an eclectic range of
  • Finnish: erilainen — an eclectic range of
  • Finnish: vaihteleva — an eclectic range of
  • Finnish: moninainen — an eclectic range of
  • French: divers — an eclectic range of
  • Georgian: სხვადასხვა (sxvadasxva) — an eclectic range of
  • Georgian: განსხვავებული (gansxvavebuli) — an eclectic range of
  • Georgian: სხვადასხვაგვარი (sxvadasxvagvari) — an eclectic range of
  • Georgian: სხვადასხვანაირი (sxvadasxvanairi) — an eclectic range of
  • Georgian: ნაირ-ნაირი (nair-nairi) — an eclectic range of
  • Georgian: მრავალფეროვანი (mravalperovani) — an eclectic range of
  • German: verschiedene — an eclectic range of
  • Greek: διάφορος (diáforos) — an eclectic range of
  • Ancient Greek: διάφορος (diáphoros) — an eclectic range of
  • Hawaiian: likeʻole — an eclectic range of
  • Hawaiian: like ʻole — an eclectic range of
  • Hindi: विभिन्न (vibhinn) — an eclectic range of
  • Hungarian: különböző — an eclectic range of
  • Hungarian: különféle — an eclectic range of
  • Hungarian: sokféle — an eclectic range of
  • Ido: diversa — an eclectic range of
  • Irish: ilghnéitheach — an eclectic range of
  • Irish: ilchineálach — an eclectic range of
  • Irish: éagsúil — an eclectic range of
  • Italian: vario — an eclectic range of
  • Japanese: いろいろな (iroiro na) — an eclectic range of
  • Japanese: 様々な (samazama na) — an eclectic range of
  • Kannada: ಬೇರೆಬೇರೆ (bērebēre) — an eclectic range of
  • Kannada: ವಿವಿಧ (vividha) — an eclectic range of
  • Khmer: ផ្សេងៗ (phseeng phseeng) — an eclectic range of
  • Khmer: ពិពិធ (pipɨt) — an eclectic range of
  • Korean: 여러 가지의 (yeoreo gaji-ui) — an eclectic range of
  • Korean: 다양하다 (dayanghada) — an eclectic range of
  • Korean: 여러 (yeoreo) — an eclectic range of
  • Lao: ຕ່າງໆ (tāng tāng) — an eclectic range of
  • Lao: ນານາ (nā nā) — an eclectic range of
  • Latin: varius — an eclectic range of
  • Latvian: dažādi — an eclectic range of
  • Lithuanian: įvairus — an eclectic range of
  • Lithuanian: skirtingas — an eclectic range of
  • Macedonian: различен (različen) — an eclectic range of
  • Macedonian: разновиден (raznoviden) — an eclectic range of
  • Macedonian: разен (razen) — an eclectic range of
  • Malayalam: വിവിധ (vividha) — an eclectic range of
  • Malayalam: പല (pala) — an eclectic range of
  • Māori: kanorau — an eclectic range of
  • Māori: whakaehu — an eclectic range of
  • Marathi: विविध (vividh) — an eclectic range of
  • Marathi: वेगवेगळे (vegvegḷe) — an eclectic range of
  • Marathi: विभिन्न (vibhinna) — an eclectic range of
  • Marathi: निरनिराळे (nirnirāḷe) — an eclectic range of
  • Mongolian: олон төрлийн (olon törliin) — an eclectic range of
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ymse — an eclectic range of
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ulike — an eclectic range of
  • Church Slavic: разьнъ (razĭnŭ) — an eclectic range of
  • Old East Slavic: розьнъ (rozĭnŭ) — an eclectic range of
  • Old English: manigfeald — an eclectic range of
  • Iranian Persian: مُخْتَلِف (moxtalef) — an eclectic range of
  • Polish: różny — an eclectic range of
  • Polish: rozmaity — an eclectic range of
  • Portuguese: vários — an eclectic range of
  • Romanian: divers — an eclectic range of
  • Romanian: variat — an eclectic range of
  • Romanian: diferit — an eclectic range of
  • Romanian: felurit — an eclectic range of
  • Russian: ра́зный (ráznyj) — an eclectic range of
  • Russian: разли́чный (razlíčnyj) — an eclectic range of
  • Sanskrit: विभिन्न (vibhinna) — an eclectic range of
  • Scottish Gaelic: eadar-dhealaichte — an eclectic range of
  • Serbo-Croatian: ра̑знӣ — an eclectic range of
  • Serbo-Croatian: rȃznī — an eclectic range of
  • Serbo-Croatian: raznoliki — an eclectic range of
  • Slovak: rozličný — an eclectic range of
  • Slovak: rôzny — an eclectic range of
  • Slovak: rozmanitý — an eclectic range of
  • Slovene: različen — an eclectic range of
  • Lower Sorbian: wšaki — an eclectic range of
  • Spanish: varios — an eclectic range of
  • Swedish: olika — an eclectic range of
  • Tajik: мухталиф (muxtalif) — an eclectic range of
  • Telugu: వేర్వేరు (vērvēru) — an eclectic range of
  • Thai: ทั้งหลาย (táng-lǎai) — an eclectic range of
  • Thai: ต่าง (dtàang) — an eclectic range of
  • Thai: ต่าง ๆ (dtàang-dtàang) — an eclectic range of
  • Thai: นานา (naa-naa) — an eclectic range of
  • Thai: หลากหลาย (làak-lǎai) — an eclectic range of
  • Tibetan: སྣ་མིན་སྣ་ཚོགས (sna min sna tshogs) — an eclectic range of
  • Turkish: çeşitli — an eclectic range of
  • Ukrainian: рі́зний (ríznyj) — an eclectic range of
  • Ukrainian: різномані́тний (riznomanítnyj) — an eclectic range of
  • Urdu: مُخْتَلِف (muxtalif) — an eclectic range of
  • Uzbek: turli — an eclectic range of
  • Vietnamese: khác nhau — an eclectic range of
Real reading context

various in complete knowledge articles