Varying

How to spell varying

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce varying

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does varying mean?

1. adjectiveDiffering from one instance to another; not constant or uniform.

Varying in a sentence

• The candidates showed varying degrees of experience for the role.

• Team members arrived with varying levels of preparation for the meeting.

Where does varying come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin adjective varius, which meant 'diverse', 'speckled', or 'many-coloured', originally describing something with patches of different shades. From that adjective Latin formed the verb variare, meaning 'to change' or 'to make different', and it is this verb that English eventually inherited. The word came into English in the late 1300s by way of Old French varier, carrying the sense of altering or differing from one instance to another. 'Varying' is the present participle of the verb 'vary', and it works as both a continuing action and an adjective for things that differ in degree or kind. The same Latin root still lives openly in relatives such as 'various', 'variety', and 'variable', and remembering that family helps fix the single r and the -ary spelling that trip people up.

How the word is built

• vary (from Latin varius: diverse, changeable)
• -ing (present participle/adjective suffix)