different between variety vs selection

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

Etymology

From Latin s?l?cti? (“the act of choosing out, selection”), from s?l?ctus, perfect passive participle of s?lig? (“choose out, select”), from s?- (“apart”) + leg? (“gather, select”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??l?k??n/
• Rhymes: -?k??n

Noun

selection (countable and uncountable, plural selections)

1. The process or act of selecting.

   The large number of good candidates made selection difficult.

2. Something selected.

   My final selection was a 1934 Chateau Lafitte.

3. A variety of items taken from a larger collection.

   I've brought a selection of fine cheeses to go with your wine.

4. A musical piece.

   For my next selection, I'll play Happy Birthday in F-sharp minor.

5. (databases) A set of data obtained from a database using a query.
6. (linguistics) The ability of predicates to determine the semantic content of their arguments. ^Wp
7. (programming) A list of items on which user operations will take place. ^Wp
8. (algebra) A unary operation that denotes a subset of a relation.
9. (historical) The free selection before survey of crown land in some Australian colonies under land legislation introduced in the 1860s. ^Wp
10. (biology) The stage of a genetic algorithm in which individual genomes are chosen from a population for later breeding. ^Wp
11. (biology) Ellipsis of natural selection

Synonyms

• choice
• (musical piece): number
• (something selected): option
• (musical piece): piece
• (variety from larger collection): subset

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• elections, selenotic, telesonic