Vara, vä′ra, n. a Spanish-American linear measure, about thirty-three inches. [Vare.]
Varangian, va-ran′ji-an, n. the name given by the Slavic Russians and the Greeks to one of those Northmen or Värings who made settlements on the east side of the Baltic in the second half of the 9th century, and laid the foundations under Rurik of the kingdom of Gardarike out of which grew the subsequent Russia.—Varangian Guard, a trusted bodyguard of the emperors of Constantinople from the end of the 10th century down to the close in 1453.
Varanus, var′a-nus, n. the typical genus of Varanidæ, a family of eriglossate lacertilians, a monitor.—n. Var′an, a varanoid lizard.—adj. Var′anoid.
Vare, vār, n. a wand of authority. [Sp. vara, a pole—L. vara, a trestle, forked stick—varus, crooked.]
Varec, var′ek, n. a Breton impure sodium carbonate. [Fr.,—Ice. vágrek, vágr, a wave, rek, drift.]
Vareuse, va-rėz′, n. a kind of loose jacket. [Fr.]
Vargueno, var-gā′nō, n. a form of cabinet made at Vargas in Spain, having a box-shaped body with lid, resting on columns, and opening at the bottom so as to serve as a writing-desk.
Variable, vā′ri-a-bl, adj. that may be varied: changeable: liable to change: unsteady: (bot., zool.) of a species embracing many individuals and groups departing more or less from the strict type: (math.) quantitatively indeterminate: (astron.) changing in brightness.—n. (math.) a quantity subject to continual increase or decrease: a quantity which may have an infinite number of values in the same expression: a shifting wind.—ns. Variabil′ity (biol.), tendency to depart in any direction from the mean character of the species; Vā′riableness.—adv. Vā′riably.—v.t. Vā′riate, to vary.—v.i. to change.—adj. Vā′riated, varied, diversified: varriated.—n. Variā′tion, a varying: a change: change from one to another: successive change: the extent to which a thing varies: (gram.) change of termination: (mus.) a manner of singing or playing the same air with various changes in time, rhythm, or key: (astron.) deviation from the mean orbit of a heavenly body: (biol.) departure from the mean character of a species.—adjs. Variā′tional, pertaining to variation; Vā′riative, tending to variation.—Variable species, any species with marked rate of variability. [Fr.,—L. variabilis.]
Variance, vā′ri-ans, n. state of being varied: an alteration: a change of condition: (law) a discrepancy: difference that arises from, or produces, dispute.—n. Vā′riant, a different form of the same original word: a different reading, e.g. in a manuscript.—adj. diverse, variable, inconstant.—At variance, in disagreement.
Varicella, var-i-sel′a, n. chicken-pox—applied also loosely to various eruptive diseases, as swine-pox, hives, or varioloid.—adjs. Varicell′ar, pertaining to varicella; Varicell′oid, resembling varicella.