n. the act of changing or altering something slightly but noticeably from the norm or standard; "who is responsible for these variations in taxation?"

n. (ballet) a solo dance or dance figure

n. (astronomy) any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite (especially a perturbation of the earth's moon)

n. something a little different from others of the same type; "an experimental version of the night fighter"; "a variant of the same word"; "an emery wheel is the modern variation of a grindstone"; "the boy is a younger edition of his father"

n. a repetition of a musical theme in which it is modified or embellished

n. an instance of change; the rate or magnitude of change

n. the angle (at a particular location) between magnetic north and true north