Variation is a difference or change in the usual form, amount, or condition of something. It can mean small changes within a group, or a new version of something familiar.
From Latin 'variatio', meaning 'difference, change', from 'variare' meaning 'to change'. It arrived in English through Middle French and Middle English, keeping the idea of things not being exactly the same.
Variation is the quiet engine behind evolution, music, and even fashion. Without tiny changes—genes mutating, melodies shifting, styles updating—everything would freeze and feel lifeless. The world’s richness is basically variation stacked on variation.
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