va|ri|e|ty

va|ri|e|ty «vuh RY uh tee», noun, plural -ties.

1. the fact, quality, or condition of being varied; lack of sameness; difference or variation: »

Variety is the spice of life. The variety of her moods kept us guessing.

2. a number of different kinds: »

The store has a great variety of toys.

3. a kind or sort: »

Which variety of cake do you prefer?

4. a) a division of a species. b) a plant or animal differing from those of the species to which it belongs in some minor but permanent or transmissible particular.

5. a group of domestic animals or cultivated plants whose modifications have been produced by artificial selection: »

a variety of hybrid tea rose.

6. Especially British. vaudeville.

╂[< Latin varietās < varius various]

Synonym Study 2 Variety, diversity mean a number of things of different kinds or qualities. Variety emphasizes absence of sameness in form or character, and applies to a number of related things of different kinds or to a number of different things of the same general kind: »

A teacher has a wide variety of duties.

Diversity emphasizes unlikeness, complete difference, in nature, form, or qualities: »

A person who has traveled widely has a diversity of interests.