variable
pronunciation
How to pronounce variable in British English:
UK [ˈveəriəbl]
How to pronounce variable in American English:
US [ˈveriəbl]
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- Noun:
- something that is likely to vary; something that is subject to variation
- a quantity that can assume any of a set of values
- a star that varies noticeably in brightness
- a symbol (like x or y) that is used in mathematical or logical expressions to represent a variable quantity
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- Adjective:
- liable to or capable of change
- marked by diversity or difference
- (used of a device) designed so that a property (as e.g. light) can be varied
Word Origin
- variable (adj.)
- late 14c., of persons, "apt to change, fickle," from Old French variable "various, changeable, fickle," from Late Latin variabilis "changeable," from variare "to change" (see vary). Of weather, seasons, etc., attested from late 15c.; of stars, from 1788.
- variable (n.)
- "quantity that can vary in value," 1816, from variable (adj.) in mathematical sense of "quantitatively indeterminate" (1710). Related: Variably; variability.
Antonym
Example
- 1. Another variable is the increasing number of student nationalities .
- 2. The obvious answer is a variable size display .
- 3. Payment systems are unfathomably complex and highly variable .
- 4. Monetary policy affects the economy with long and variable lags .
- 5. What values does the local variable r take on during the calculation ?