VARIATION

'Variation' means an instance of change or the rate or magnitude of change. It may refer to:
Biology:

★ Biodiversity

★ Genetic variation, differences within a species
Physics:

★ Magnetic variation, difference between magnetic north and true north, measured as an angle

★ Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the Moon
Mathematics:

★ Bounded variation

★ Calculus of variations, a field of mathematics which deals with functions of functions.

★ Coefficient of variation in statistics, the magnitude of variance relative to the mean. ''Variation'' often refers to a vague notion of the extent of spread in measurements of a variable, quantified in the variance.

★ Permutation
Arts:

★ Variation (ballet), solo dance or dance figure

★ Variation (music), formal technique where material is altered during repetition

★ Variations (album), composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Other:

★ Variation (linguistics)

★ Variation (game), modifications made to a game by a community of players (as opposed to a central authority)

★ Variation (chess), particular series of moves