A named storage location in computer memory that holds a value which can be changed during program execution. Variables act as containers for data that your program can manipulate and reference by name.
From Latin 'variabilis' meaning 'changeable' or 'inconstant.' The term entered computing in the 1940s from mathematics, where variables represent unknown quantities in equations. In programming, it retained this concept of representing values that can vary during execution.
Think of variables like labeled boxes in a warehouse - you can put different items in the same box and change the label to find it later. The computer doesn't care what's inside; it just needs to know where to look when you call that name!
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