different between classification vs variety

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French classification

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?klæs?f??ke???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

classification (countable and uncountable, plural classifications)

1. The act of forming into a class or classes; a distribution into groups, as classes, orders, families, etc., according to some common relations or attributes.
   • 1997: Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, page 69 (Totem Books, Icon Books; ?ISBN

     I’m using mathesis — a universal science of measurement and order …
     And there is also taxinomia a principle of 'classification' and ordered tabulation.
     Knowledge replaced universal resemblance with finite differences. History was arrested and turned into tables …
     Western reason had entered the age of judgement.

Derived terms

• classification scheme
• classification yard

Related terms

• class
• classic
• classify
• category
• categorize
• segment

Translations

Further reading

• classification in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• classification in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• classification at OneLook Dictionary Search

French

Etymology

classe +? -ification

Pronunciation

Noun

classification f (plural classifications)

1. classification

Further reading

• “classification” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Alternative forms

• variëty (rare)

Etymology

From Middle French varieté, from Latin variet?s (“difference, diversity”), from varius (“different, various”); see various. Displaced native Old English misl?cnes.

Pronunciation

• enPR: v?-r???-t?, IPA^(key): /v???a?.?.ti/
• Rhymes: -a??ti
• Hyphenation: va?ri?e?ty

Noun

variety (countable and uncountable, plural varieties)

1. The quality of being varied; diversity.

   Antonym: sameness

2. A specific variation of something.
3. A number of different things.

   Synonyms: array, assortment

4. A state of constant change.
5. (taxonomy) A rank in a taxonomic classification, below species (infraspecific), either below subspecies (subspecific) or ranked comparably therewith.
6. (cybernetics) The total number of distinct states of a system.
7. (cybernetics) Logarithm of the base 2 of the total number of distinct states of a system.
8. (linguistics) A term used for a specific form of a language, neutral to whether that form is a dialect, accent, register, etc. and to its prestige level.
9. (algebra, universal algebra) An equational class; the class of all algebraic structures of a given signature, satisfying a given set of identities.
10. (algebraic geometry) An algebraic variety.
11. The kind of theatrical entertainment given in variety shows.
12. The production of, or performance in, variety shows.

Synonyms

• (quality of being varied): See also Thesaurus:nonuniformity
• (algebraic geometry): algebraic variety
• (universal algebra): equational class, equational variety, variety of algebras

Hyponyms

• (specific variation of something): cultivar

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• species
• (cybernetics: logarithm): information entropy

Further reading

• variety in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• variety in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.