various

various, a.
  (ˈvɛərɪəs)
  [f. L. vari-us changing, different, diverse, variegated + -ous. Cf. It., Sp., Pg. vario.]
  I. † 1. Of things: Undergoing, exhibiting, subject to, variation or change; variable, changeful. Obs.

1552 Huloet, Variouse, uacillans,..uarius. 1570 Levins Manip. 226 Variouse, varius, instabilis. 1622 J. Taylor (Water P.) Sir G. Nonsence Wks. (1630) 1/2 Most conscript Vmpire in this various Orbe. 1647 Sir C. Cotterell tr. Davila's Hist. Fr. I. 13 As the condition of the Court is ever various and unconstant. a 1676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. (1677) 191 The Instances of latter Discoveries which make evident this various state of the Globe of Earth and Water. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4463/3 The Winds were so various that we could not make to the Bay of la Hogue 'till the 11th. a 1763 Shenstone Elegies v. 11 Ill can I bear the various clime of Love! 1775 Sheridan Rivals Epil., The servile suitors watch her various face, She smiles preferment, or she frowns disgrace.

  † b. Of fortune, life, etc. Obs.

1623 J. Taylor (Water P.) Discovery by Sea Wks. (1630) 24/1 Whilst we like various Fortunes Tennis ball, At euery stroake, were in the Hazzard all. 1644 Quarles Judgment & Mercy 12 Fear not the frowns of princes, or the imperious hand of various fortune. 1703 N. Rowe Ulysses i. i, Ev'ry Change Of various Life. 1741–2 Gray Agrippina 54 Through various life I have pursued your steps.

  † c. Turning different ways; going in different directions. Obs.

1621 Quarles Argalus & P. (1678) 13 There walked she; and in her various minde, Projects and casts about which way to finde The progress of the young Partheniaes heart. 1725 Pope Odyss. vi. 134 Forth from her snowy hand Nausicaa threw The various ball.

  † d. Of a war: Marked by varying success. Obs.

1754–8 Bp. Newton Obs. Proph. Daniel xii. 179 Hence arose a various war between Antiochus and Epiphanes, each of them seizing Phœnicia and Cœle-Syria by turns.

  † 2. Of persons: a. Changeable in character; inconstant, unstable; fickle. Obs.

1636 E. Dacres tr. Machiavel's Disc. Livy I. 231 A Prince loosen'd from the law, will be unthankfull, various, and imprudent. 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals iii. iv. 328 So Cardinal Alexandrino dealt with Cardinal de S. Sisto, a various and unconstant man. 1670 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 330 Truly he seems to me so various and fickle in handling this businesse all along. 1719 Swift Hist. Eng. Wks. 1841 I. 544/2 Robert, who was various in his nature, and always under the power of the present persuader. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. i. (1782) I. 9 The various character of that emperor, capable, by turns, of the meanest and the most generous sentiments. 1820 E. Thompson Cullen's Nosologia (ed. 3) 227 The mind, involuntarily various and unsteady.

  † b. Marked by change or vacillation in opinions or views. Obs.

1645 Visct. Falkland Infallibility 13 Saint Austin, who is very various I confesse in it. 1653 Gataker Vind. Annot. Jer. i. 3 In this point he seems somewhat various. 1661 J. Davies Civil Warres 373 The officers of the army them⁓selves began to be various and uncertain what to do.

  † c. poet. Appearing in or assuming a variety of forms. Obs.

1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 524 Watch with insidious care his known abode; There fast in chains constrain the various god [sc. Proteus].

  II. 3. Of persons: † a. Versatile in knowledge or acquirements; exhibiting variety in work or writings. Obs.

1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 1 His name was already up..for a great scholar: a various Linguist. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. viii. (1686) 24 A delectable Author, very various. 1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. i. i, What in this respect is wiser, or better instructed than the Bee? What Artificer is so various, what Painter..can imitate her works? 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 545 A man so various, that he seem'd to be Not one, but all Mankind's Epitome.

  b. Giving attention to many different subjects.

1878 R. Choate Addresses 235 It is a common belief that Mr. Webster was a various reader; and I think it is true.

  4. a. Varied in colour; vari-coloured, variegated. Chiefly poet.

a 1618 [see varnish v. 1 b]. 1697 Dryden æneid ix. 2 The various Iris Juno sends with haste, To find bold Turnus. 1718 Prior The Garland ii, At Morn the Nymph vouchsaft to place Upon her Brow the various Wreath. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 106 The rising Sun..As many Colours from their glossy Skins Beaming reflects, as paint the various Bow. 1757 W. Wilkie Epigoniad iii. 54 A polish'd casque her lovely temples bound, With flow'rs of gold and various plumage crown'd. 1855 Longfellow Hiawatha xii. 186 He saw the nine fair sisters..Changed to birds of various plumage.

  b. Exhibiting variety in appearance; presenting different aspects at different times or places.

1656 Ridgley Pract. Physick 288 Use these till the pain, and various colour cease. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 89, I..underneath beheld The Earth outstretcht immense, a prospect wide And various. 1694 Congreve Double-Dealer v. xvii, Ten thousand meanings lurk in every corner of that various face. 1712 Addison Spectator No. 417 ¶3 The various Scenary of a Country Life. 1725 Portland Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.) VI. 98 If one gets safe to the top, he may enjoy..a very extensive and various prospect on both sides. 1796 C. Smith Marchmont I. 118 Her road lay..through a country various and rich. 1832 Lander Exped. Niger I. i. 32 They were clad in all their finery, their apparel being as gaudy as it was various. 1863 W. W. Story Roba di Roma xiii, Various as the Campagna is in outline, it is quite as various in colour, reflecting every aspect of the sky and answering every touch of the seasons. 1872 Blackie Lays of Highlands Introd. 49 The various outline of the Orcadian coast..presents a fine background.

  5. Characterized by variation or variety of attributes or properties; exhibiting or possessing (several) different characters or qualities; varied in nature or character.

pred. a 1633 J. Austin Medit. (1635) 270 Let the Pleasure be full to give Content; Let it be Various to avoid Satietie. 1762 Sir W. Jones Arcadia Poems (1777) 109 His tune so various and uncouth he made, That not a dancer could in cadence move. 1780 New Newgate Cal. V. 100 After conviction their behaviour was very various. On some occasions they appeared hardened in a very high degree, and at others [etc.]. 1853 Felton Fam. Lett. xliv. (1865) 324 Since our return from our journey, the weather has been very various. 1858 Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Phil. 99 The velocity of rivers is very various, the slower class moving at less than 3 feet, and the more rapid at so much as 6 feet per second. 1876 Parker Paraclete i. vii. 107 The ministration of the spirit is various: by it Moses was made wise, Bezaleel was made skilful, and Samson was made strong.

attrib. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. i. §14 The various motion and configuration of the particles of matter. 1670 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 354 We shall have much adoe to get businesse of so various nature into fashion. 1703 Rowe Fair Penitent i. i, The various fury of the Seasons. a 1720 Prior Judgment of Venus i, When Kneller's Works of various Grace, Were to fair Venus shown. 1796 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 413 We have had various health, but never any that deserved to be called good. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 412 To show the various worth of Catherine Lloyd. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby iii. ii, Such a various prodigality of writing materials. 1868 Heavysege Jezebel iii. 115 Then followed many years of various fate.

  † b. Calculated to cause difference or dissimilarity. Obs.^—1

1667 Milton P.L. xii. 53 God..in derision sets Upon thir Tongues a various Spirit,..To sow a jangling noise of words unknown.

  6. a. Marked by variety of incident or action.

1634 Milton Comus 379 She..lets grow her wings That in the various bussle of resort Were all to ruffl'd. 1667 ― P.L. vi. 242 For wide was spred That Warr and various. 1727 Dyer Grongar Hill 97 Wave succeeding wave, they go A various journey to the deep. 1829 I. Taylor Enthusiasm (1867) 75 Pride..forbids [the heretic's] return to the truth he has..denounced from all points of his various course.

  b. poet. Acting in many different ways.

1671 Milton Samson 668 God of our Fathers, what is man! That thou towards him with hand so various..Temperst thy providence.

  7. a. Exhibiting variety of subject or topic; concerned or occupied with many different themes.

1677–8 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 583 The other things committed to them, being of various consideration, they will probably digest into severall Bills. 1703 Pope Thebais 795 Relate your fortunes, while the friendly night And silent hours to various talk invite. 1794 Godwin Caleb Williams 139 Yet under this rude exterior it was easy to distinguish various knowledge, nice discrimination, and a strong and active mind. 1818 Tuckey's Narr. Exped. R. Zaire Introd. p. lvii, He had stored his mind with so much various knowledge..that he was considered the most eligible for the undertaking. 1852 Thackeray Esmond iii. v, One whose conversation was so various, easy, and delightful.

  b. Exhibiting variety in the different persons or things forming a collective whole; displaying or including a variety of objects.

1769 Sir W. Jones Palace Fortune Poems (1777) 15 Through the four portals rush'd a various throng. 1811 Scott Don Roderick ii. lvii, A various host they came, whose ranks display Each mode in which the warrior meets the fight. 1830 Tennyson Ode to Memory v, Great artist Memory,..Needs must thou dearly love thy first essay, And foremost in thy various gallery Place it. 1872 Blackie Lays Highl. 163 One single law, as with a chain, Doth bind the various vast infinity.

  III. 8. With pl. n. Different from one another; of different kinds or sorts: a. In attrib. use.

1634 Milton Comus 22 All the Sea-girt Isles That like to rich and various gemms inlay The..boosom of the Deep. 1648 Crashaw Delights Muses, Music's Duel 128 The humourous strings expound his learned touch By various Glosses. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 375 Then were they known to men by various Names, And various Idols through the Heathen World. 1724 Watts Logic (1726) 116 As infinitely various as the Essences of Things are, their Definitions must needs have very various Forms. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Odes ii. xviii. 39 For Earth impartial entertains Her various sons, and in her breast Princes and beggars equal rest. 1805 Med. Jrnl. XIV. 564 Dr. Jackson..is very careful in marking all those various effects produced from similar causes. 1857 1st Rep. Comm. Customs 13 To discharge the various and onerous duties of ‘Shipping Masters’. 1884 tr. Lotze's Metaph. 196 There arises,..by help of abstraction from the content of the various impressions, the picture of empty extension.

ellipt. 1855 Poultry Chron. III. 415 The Various Class presented the usual number of curiosities. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 30 Dec. 3/1 A couple of 'cock, ground game, and such ‘various’ as snipe, duck, a plover or so.

  b. Predicative.

1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xliii. 323 The causes why men beleeve any Christian Doctrine, are various. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 229 How various and innumerable Are those, who live upon the Rabble? 1721 Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 147 The Beetle and Water-Scorpion are little various in the outward Structure of their Bodies. 1784 Cowper Task i. 302 The woodland scene, Diversified with trees of ev'ry growth, Alike, yet various. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxxiv, Its springs, various in character, yet alike efficacious in virtue, are to be found in abundance. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 180 Talents great and various assisted to spread the contagion. 1851 Helps Comp. Solit. xi. 213 The advantages of travel are very various and very numerous.

  c. With a singular n., and freq. preceded by each or every.

a 1721 Prior Colin's Mistakes xi, Ca'ndish-Holles-Harley stood confest, As various Hour advis'd, in various Habit drest. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist. i. xvii. 32 Yet Aristippus every Dress became: In every various Change of Life the same. 1766 [C. Anstey] New Bath Guide ix. 42, I alone his Thoughts employ Through each various Scene of Joy. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xxx, Sufficient care was taken that this report should find its way to Ravenswood Castle through every various channel. 1819 Byron Juan i. xviii, Don Jóse, like a lineal son of Eve, Went plucking various fruit without her leave. 1863 Longfellow Wayside Inn ii. Prel. 63 The breakfast ended, each pursued The promptings of his various mood.

  d. In the phrase various reading(s). (Cf. variant a. 4 b, n. 1 b, 2 and lection n. 1 c.)

1659 Bp. Walton Considerator Consid. 114 Various Readings are the difference of Copies collected and offered to the reader's judgment. 1701 Stanley's Hist. Philos. Introd. d b, That he might omit nothing, he has annext the various Readings,..Conjectures and Observations. 1721 Bp. Atterbury Let. to Pope 27 Sept., Therefore in my Waller there is a various reading of the first of these couplets. c 1750 Johnson in Boswell (Oxf. ed.) II. 618 note, Chaucer, a new edition of him, from manuscripts and old editions, with various readings, conjectures [etc.]. 1824 J. Johnson Typogr. II. 437 An exact list of all its various readings. 1855 Paley æschylus Pref. (1861) p. x, What really is a necessary and inevitable part of an editor's duty, viz. the continual discussion of various readings. 1910 Expositor Apr. 352 It may rest upon a various reading in the Hebrew.

  9. In weakened sense, as an enumerative term: Different, divers, several, many, more than one.
  It is not always possible to distinguish absolutely between this sense and 8, as the meaning freq. merges into ‘many different’: cf. divers a. 3.

1696 Prior To the King at Arrival in Holland 62 In various Tongues He hears the Captains dwell On their great Leader's Praise. 1725 N. Robinson Th. Physick 239 By this Means we shall be able to judge with the greater Exactness, of all the various Phænomena's of Nature. 1762 J. Reeve in Foley Rec. Eng. Prov. S.J. VII. Introd. p. xlii, From that period the College of St. Omer began to shine among the various Seminaries of piety and learning. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxi, But he heard of the Major's fame from various members of his society. 1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight ii. 30 The eyeball is moved in various directions by six muscles. 1897 Ld. Roberts 41 Yrs. India vii. (1898) 41 Various acts of incendiarism took place.

  10. Comb. With adjs. or pa. pples., as various-blossomed, various-coloured, various-formed, various-measured, etc.

1730–46 Thomson Autumn 5 The *various-blossom'd Spring.

a 1711 Ken Preparatives Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 35 Bright *various colour'd Rays his Wings adorn. 1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 231 The various-coloured Gadus,..The Cod-fish. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xxxi, Such triple tiaras of various-coloured gauze on her head.

1803 J. Kenny Society 54 In spite of danger *various-form'd, to wrest Nature's yet hidden secrets.

1822 Hortus Anglicus II. 155 L[epidium] Perfoliatum. *Various-leaved Pepper Wort.

1671 Milton P.R. iv. 256 *Various-measur'd verse, æolian charms and Dorian Lyric Odes.

1880 Disraeli Endym. lxv, The intended introduction of grain at *various-priced duties per quarter.

1727–46 Thomson Summer 1110 The fiery spume Of fat Bitumen, steaming on the day, With *various-tinctur'd trains of latent flame.

1788 Coleridge Sonnet to Autumnal Moon 1 Mild Splendour of the *various-vested Night!

Oxford English Dictionary