LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

varius1

varius (feminine varia, neuter varium)
Classical[ˈwa.ri.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈvaː.ri.us]
№ 631 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. adjectivein pluraldiverse, different, various, varied
    Venit hiems: teritur Sicyonia baca trapetis, glande sues laeti redeunt, dant arbuta silvae; et varios ponit fetus autumnus et alteTranslation by James B. Greenough Winter is come: in olive-mills they bruise The Sicyonian berry; acorn-cheered The swine troop homeward; woods their arbutes yield; So, various fruit sheds Autumn, and high up On sunny rocks the mellowing vintage bakes.c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 2.519
  2. adjectivemanifold, changing, variable, complex
  3. adjectiveversatile
  4. adjectivefickle
  5. adjectivemotley, mottled, variegated

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

multōrum colōrum; nōn ūnīus colōris.
varius -a -um — in Mille Verba, Colōrēs

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Varius · Diversus · Contrarius · Versicolor · Variegare

1. Varium (from αἰόλος) means, possessing differences in its own texture, varied; whereas diversum, differing from something else, distinct. Catull. 47, 10. Quos longe simul a domo profectos diverse variæ viæ reportant; that is, whom various ways, in an entirely different direction, bring home. Tac. Hist. i. 25. Otho postquam vario sermone callidos et audaces cognovit pretio et promissis onerat . . . Suspensos cæterorum animos diversis artibus (namely, spe et metu) stimulant. 2. The diversa will have nothing in common, and go different or even opposite ways from each other; whereas the contraria confront and stand directly opposite to each other. Hence the following climax in Cic. Divin. ii. 26, 55. Diversas aut etiam contrarias. Vell. Pat. ii. 75. Diversa præsentibus et contraria exspectatis sperare. Quintil. v. 10, 26. 3. Varium denotes variegated, as exhibiting different colors at the same time, like ποικίλον; whereas versicolor, that which changes its color, according to the light in which it is held, like αἰόλον. Propert. iii. 13, 32. Aut variam plumæ versicoloris avem. Pliny is describing two different properties, xxxvii. 10, when he describes the stone Mithrax, as at the same time multicolor and contra solem varie refulgens. 4. Variare means to give a varied appearance in general; variegare, to give a varied appearance, especially by different colors. (iii. 269.)

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevariusvariavarium
genitivevariīvariaevariī
dativevariōvariaevariō
accusativevariumvariamvarium
ablativevariōvariāvariō
vocativevarievariavarium
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevariīvariaevaria
genitivevariōrumvariārumvariōrum
dativevariīsvariīsvariīs
accusativevariōsvariāsvaria
ablativevariīsvariīsvariīs
vocativevariīvariaevaria

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

varia fortuna uti
to experience the vicissitudes of fortune; to have a chequered career.
ancipites et varii casus
the changes and chances of this life.
sub varios incertosque casus subiectum esse
to have to submit to the uncertainties of fortune; to be subject to Fortune's caprice.

vărĭus, a, um, adj.,
I. diverse, different, manifold, changing, varying, various (cf.: diversus, distinctus).
I. Lit.
A. Of color, etc., variegated, party-colored, mottled, etc.: arietis lingua nigra aut varia, vestis, Varr. R. R. 2, 2, 4: variā veste exornatus fuit, Ter. Eun. 4, 4, 16; so of color: uvae, Cato, R. R. 33, 4; 33, 73: lynces, Verg. G. 3, 264: serpens, Ov. M. 6, 114: anguis, id. ib. 4, 619: pica, Petr. 28 fin.: flores, Tib. 1, 7, 45; Ov. M. 10, 123: plumae, Hor. A. P. 2: lapides, id. S. 2, 4, 83: columnae, of variegated marble, id. Ep. 1, 10, 22: auctumnus purpureo colore, id. C. 2, 5, 12: colores, Ov. M. 1, 270; cf.: vestra latera loris faciam ut valide varia sint, i. e. black and blue, Plaut. Ps. 1, 2, 12; id. Mil. 2, 2, 61: tergum varium, Pomp. ap. Non. 19, 31 (Com. Rel. v. 139 Rib.): sparsa quoque in vario passim miracula caelo videt, diversified, i. e. with constellations of various forms, Ov. M. 2, 193.—
2. Subst.: vărĭa, ae, f. (i. e. bestia, a mottled animal).
a. A panther, Plin. 8, 17, 23, § 63 sq.—
b. A kind of magpie, Plin. 10, 29, 41, § 78.—
B. In rural lang.: terra, wet above and dry beneath, Col. 2, 4, 5: sulcus, Cato, R. R. 61, 2; Plin. 18, 19, 49, § 174.—
II. Trop., diverse, different, manifold, changing, varying, changeable, various, etc.: varium poëma, varia oratio, varii mores, varia fortuna; voluptas etiam varia dici solet, Cic. Fin. 2, 3, 10: (qualitates) variae et quasi multiformes, id. Ac. 1, 7, 26: et ea, quae videntur acerba, quae multa et varia in hominum vitā fortunāque versantur, id. Off. 1, 20, 67: curricula multiplicium variorumque sermonum, id. Or. 3, 12: res varia et multiplex, id. Fl. 3, 6: multae, copiosae variaeque rationes, id. de Or. 1, 51, 222; cf.: varia et diversa genera et bellorum et hostium, id. Imp. Pomp. 10, 28; cf. id. de Or. 3, 16, 61; 1, 61, 262: varium jus et dispar condicio, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 19, § 49: eventus varii fortunae, Caes. B. G. 2, 22: victoria, wavering, = anceps, Sall. J. 5, 1; Liv. 2, 6, 10; so, bellum, Flor. 4, 12, 26. —Of opinions: varias esse opiniones intellego: sunt qui putant, etc., i. e. divergent opinions, differences where there is yet substantial agreement (while diversae opiniones are opposite views), Cic. Fam. 1, 9, 25. —
2. Varium est, with a rel.-clause: quales sint (dii), varium est, various opinions prevail, Cic. N. D. 2, 5, 13.—
B. Esp., of persons, etc.
1. Of abilities, versatile: Plato et varius et multiplex et copiosus fuit, Cic. Ac. 1, 4, 17; cf.: antequam scirem quam varium, quam flexibile quam multiplex (ejus ingenium) esset, Plin. Ep. 1, 16, 1: Antonius ingenio varius, Flor. 4, 3, 4.—
2. Of character, fickle, inconstant, changeable, untrustworthy: miror quid sit, quod pater tuus, homo constantissimus, te nobis varium reliquit (beaten black and blue, and fickle-minded,) Cic. Fragm. ap. Quint. 6, 3, 48: animus audax, subdolus, varius, Sall. C. 5, 4: varius incertusque agitabat, id. J. 74, 1: voltu et oculis pariter atque animo varius, agitated, irresolute, id. ib. 113, 3: Pausanias magnus homo, sed varius in omni genere vitae fuit, Nep. Paus. 1, 1; cf.: varium et mutabile semper Femina, a fickle thing, Verg. A. 4, 569.—Hence, adv.: vărĭē.
A. Lit., with diverse colors, in a variegated manner: mithrax gemma multicolor, contra solem varie refulgens, Plin. 37, 10, 63, § 173: smaragdi Cyprii varie glauci, id. 37, 5, 18, § 67. —
B. Trop., variously, changeably, diversely, differently, in various ways: varie moveri, Cic. Div. 2, 42, 89: qui (sermones) ab his, qui illum audierunt, perscripti varie et copiose sunt, id. Ac. 1, 4, 16: numerus hujus generis late et varie diffusus est, id. Sest. 45, 97: varie sum affectus tuis litteris, id. Fam. 16, 4, 1: postea decernitur, ac non varie, sed prope cunctis sententiis, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 65, § 145: ita varie per omnem exercitum laetitia, maeror, luctus atque gaudia agitabantur, Sall. C. 61, 9: in Aequis varie bellatum, Liv. 5, 28, 5: agere varie, rogando alternis suadendoque coepit, id. 2, 2, 9: hiemem aut negotia varie causari, Tac. A. 1, 47: sagittarios varie passimque collocare, Auct. B. Afr. 60: disserere, Tac. A. 1, 11.—With a punning allusion to 1. Varia: Ep. Perpetuon' valuisti? Th. Varie. Ep. Qui varie valent, caprigenum hominum non placet mihi neque pantherinum genus, Plaut. Ep. 1, 1, 15.

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁wh₂-s-? Proto-Indo-European *-yos Proto-Indo-European *-yós ▲ Proto-Italic *-jōsinflu. Proto-Italic *-jos Proto-Italic *wasios? Latin varius Unknown. De Vaan tentatively suggests it may go back to Proto-Italic *wasios, sharing a root *was- with vafer (“clever”); this etymology is also uncertain and the root lacks cognates outside of Italic. De Vaan also considers a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“to let, leave”) (the root of vārus, vānus, vāstus) but finds this unconvincing.

Descendants
  • Catalanvair
  • Catalanvaire
  • Catalanvari
  • Frenchvairfrom Old French vair
  • Englishvairfrom Old French vair
  • Italianvaio
  • Italianvario
  • Portugueseveirofrom Old Galician-Portuguese veiro
  • Spanishvero
  • Spanishvario
proper noun · masculinesecond declension
Varius2
Varius m sg (genitive Variī or Varī)
Classical[ˈwa.ri.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈvaː.ri.us]

Meaning

  1. masculinesingulara nomen (nomen gentile), a family name.
    Lucius Varius Rufus... Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus...

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeVarius—
genitiveVariī
Varī		—
dativeVariō—
accusativeVarium—
ablativeVariō—
vocativeVarī—

Vărĭus, a,
I. the name of a Roman gens; esp.,
I. Q. Varius of Sucro, in Spain, called Hybrida, a tribune of the people A.U.C. 663, Cic. de Or. 1, 25, 117; id. Brut. 49, 182; 62, 221; Val. Max. 4, 3, 7.—
II. L. Varius, a tragic poet, contemporary with Virgil and Horace, Verg. E. 9, 35; Hor. S. 1, 10, 44; Quint. 10, 1, 98; Mart. 8, 18, 7.

Origins

From Vārus (agnomen and cognomen) + -ius (“-y”, adjective-forming suffix) or directly from vārus (“bent in; knock-kneed; different”) + -ius. Compare Valgus and Valgius.

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

Biography & mythologyVariusVarius. 1. Q. Varius Hybrida, tribune of the plebs, B. C. 90, was a native of Sucro in Spain, and received the surname of Hybrida, because his mother …

Quick answers

What does varius mean in Latin?
varius, a adjective, means “diverse, different, various, varied; manifold, changing, variable, complex; versatile”.
How do you pronounce varius?
In classical Latin, [ˈwa.ri.ʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈvaː.ri.us].