different between variety vs league

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.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li??/
• Rhymes: -i??

Etymology 1

From Middle English liege, ligg, lige (“a pact between governments, an agreement, alliance”), from Middle French ligue, from Italian lega, from the verb legare, from Latin lig? (“I tie”).

Noun

league (plural leagues)

1. A group or association of cooperating members.
   • 1668, John Denham, The Passion of Dido for Aeneas

     And let there be / 'Twixt us and them no league, nor amity.

2. (sports) An organization of sports teams which play against one another for a championship.

3. (informal, rugby) Ellipsis of rugby league

4. (often in the negative) A class or type of people or things that are evenly matched or on the same level.

5. A prefecture-level administrative unit in Inner Mongolia (Chinese: ?).

Derived terms

Related terms

• ally
• alliance

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ??? (r?gu)
• ? Korean: ?? (rigeu)

Translations

Verb

league (third-person singular simple present leagues, present participle leaguing, simple past and past participle leagued)

1. To form an association; to unite in a league or confederacy; to combine for mutual support.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of South to this entry?)

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English lege (“league”), from Late Latin leuca, leuga (“the Gaulish mile”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *lewg? (compare Middle Breton leau, Welsh lew, Breton lev / leo (“league”)).

Noun

league (plural leagues)

1. (measurement) The distance that a person can walk in one hour, commonly taken to be approximately three English miles (about five kilometers).
   • 1751-1753, Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz, History of Louisiana (PG), p. 47

     Seven leagues above the mouth of the river we meet with two other passes, as large as the middle one by which we entered.
2. A stone erected near a public road to mark the distance of a league.

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “league”, in Online Etymology Dictionary
• Middle English Dictionary, lege