D defs.my
Menu ☰
Entry 5 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Variable

/vĕr'-ē-əb-əl/ · Va·ri·a·ble · IPA /[ˈvæɹ.i.ə.bl̩]/
01 a. Having the capacity of varying or changing; capable of alternation in any manner; changeable; as, variable winds or seasons; a variable quantity.
  1. 1.
    Having the capacity of varying or changing; capable of alternation in any manner; changeable; as, variable winds or seasons; a variable quantity.
  2. 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.” — Shak.
    “His heart, I know, how variable and vain!” — Milton.
Phrases & compounds
Variable exhaust — a blast pipe with an adjustable opening.
Variable quantity — a variable.
Variable-rate mortgage — 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 — fixed stars which vary in their brightness, usually in more or less uniform periods.
Syn. Changeable; mutable; fickle; wavering; unsteady; versatile; inconstant.
02 n. That which is variable; that which varies, or is subject to change.
  1. 1.
    That which is variable; that which varies, or is subject to change.
  2. 2.
    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 x2 - y2 = R2, x and y are variables.(Math.)
  3. 3.
    A shifting wind, or one that varies in force.(Naut.)
Phrases & compounds
Independent variable — 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 x2 - y2 = R2, 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.