variation
French, noun/va.ʁja.sjɔ̃/
variation is spelled V-A-R-I-A-T-I-O-N (9 letters) and appears 8.1 times per million words in written French, the 7,805th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Variation is a French feminine noun meaning “variation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Changement”.
What does variation mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininevariation
- 2
femininevariation (technique where material is repeated with alterations to the melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, texture, counterpoint or orchestration; but with some invariant characteristic, e.g. a ground bass)
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Changement. 2. Dérivation de l’aiguille de la boussole qui, au lieu de regarder droit vers le nord géographique, décline plus ou moins vers l’est ou vers l’ouest. 3. Répétition d’un thème avec des modifications, des ornements, sous une forme nouvelle. 4. Solo, chorégraphie exécutée par un seul danseur ou une seule danseuse au sein d’un ballet.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of variation
- variations plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce variation?
- /va.ʁja.sjɔ̃/
- \va.ʁja.sjɔ̃\
- [va.ʁja.sjɔ̃]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to variation
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is variation in French?
variation appears 8.1 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).