different between vary vs veer

English

Etymology

From Middle English varien, from Old French varier, from Latin vari? (“to change, alter, make different”), from varius (“different, various”); see various.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?v???i/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?v???i/, /?væ?i/, /?v??i/
• (Mary–marry–merry distinction)
• (Mary–marry–merry distinction)
• (Mary–marry–merry merger)
• Rhymes: -???i
• Homophone: very (accents with the Mary-marry-merry merger)

Verb

vary (third-person singular simple present varies, present participle varying, simple past and past participle varied)

1. (transitive) To change with time or a similar parameter.
   • 1695, John Dryden (translator), Observations on the Art of Painting by Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy

     We are to vary the customs according to the time and country where the scene of action lies.

2. (transitive) To institute a change in, from a current state; to modify.
   • a. 1687, Edmund Waller, to Phyllis

     Gods, that never change their state, / Vary oft their love and hate.

3. (intransitive) Not to remain constant: to change with time or a similar parameter.

   • While fear and anger, with alternate grace, / Pant in her breast, and vary in her face.

4. (of the members of a group, intransitive) To display differences.
5. (intransitive) To be or act different from the usual.

6. (transitive) To make of different kinds; to make different from one another; to diversity; to variegate.
7. (transitive, music) To embellish; to change fancifully; to present under new aspects, as of form, key, measure, etc. See variation.
8. (intransitive, obsolete) To disagree; to be at variance or in dissension.
   • 1623, John Webster, The Devil's Law Case

     the rich jewel which we vary for

Synonyms

• (institute a change in): alter, change; See also Thesaurus:alter
• (not to remain constant): fluctuate
• (display differences): See also Thesaurus:differ
• (make of different kinds): See also Thesaurus:diversify
• (disagree): dissent, take exception

Derived terms

• varisome

Translations

Noun

vary (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) alteration; change.

Related terms

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• arvy

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?var?]

Noun

vary

1. nominative/accusative/vocative/instrumental plural of var

Malagasy

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *b??as, from Proto-Austronesian *b??as.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /var?/

Noun

vary

1. rice ((raw) seeds used as food)

English

Pronunciation

• (General Australian, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /v??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /v?(?)?/
• Rhymes: -??(r)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle Dutch vieren (“to slacken”).

Verb

veer (third-person singular simple present veers, present participle veering, simple past and past participle veered)

1. (obsolete, nautical) To let out (a sail-line), to allow (a sheet) to run out.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, volume 12:

     As when a skilfull Marriner doth reed / A storme approching, that doth perill threat, / He will not bide the daunger of such dread, / But strikes his sayles, and vereth his mainsheat, / And lends vnto it leaue the emptie ayre to beat.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French virer.

Noun

veer (plural veers)

1. A turn or swerve; an instance of veering.
   • 1917, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society

     […] there is always a sudden, though small rise in the barometer, and a sudden drop of temperature of several degrees, sometimes as much as ten or fifteen degrees; there is also a sudden veer in the wind direction.

Translations

Verb

veer (third-person singular simple present veers, present participle veering, simple past and past participle veered)

1. (intransitive) To change direction or course suddenly; to swerve.

   • And as he leads, the following navy veers.

   • 1796, Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace

     An ordinary community which is hostile or friendly as passion or as interest may veer about.
2. (intransitive, of the wind) To shift in a clockwise direction (if in the Northern Hemisphere, or in a counterclockwise direction if in the Southern Hemisphere).
3. (intransitive, nautical, of the wind) To shift aft.
4. (intransitive, nautical) To change direction into the wind; to wear ship.
5. (transitive) To turn.

Antonyms

• (of the wind, to shift clockwise): back
• (of the wind, to shift aft): haul forward

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Vere, ever

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch veer.

Noun

veer (plural vere)

1. feather

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve???r/, [??e???]
• Rhymes: -e???r

Noun

veer

1. plural of ve

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve?r/, [v??r]
• Hyphenation: veer
• Rhymes: -e?r

Etymology 1

A contraction of veder, from Middle Dutch vedere, from Old Dutch fethara, from Proto-West Germanic *feþru, from Proto-Germanic *feþr?, from Proto-Indo-European *péth?r? ~ pth?én- (“feather, wing”), from *peth?- (“to fly”). The sense "spring" is derived from the ability of feathers to resume their shape when bent.

Cognate with Low German Fedder, German Feder, West Frisian fear, English feather, Danish fjer, Swedish fjäder.

Noun

veer f (plural veren, diminutive veertje n)

1. feather

   Synonym: pluim

2. spring (e.g. metallic helix which resists stress)

Alternative forms

• (feather): veder (dated)

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: veer
• ? Indonesian: per (“spring”)

Verb

veer

1. first-person singular present indicative of veren
2. imperative of veren

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch vere, from Old Dutch feri, from Proto-Germanic *farjan?.

Cognate with German Fähre.

Noun

veer n (plural veren, diminutive veertje n)

1. ferry

Synonyms

• overzet
• pont, veerpont m, veerboot

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: veer

Anagrams

• erve, ever, vere, vree

Dutch Low Saxon

Alternative forms

• vaaier (Gronings)

Etymology

From Low German, from Middle Low German vêr, from Old Saxon fiuwar. Ultimately cognate to German vier.

Numeral

veer

1. four (4)

Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *veeri.

Noun

veer (genitive veere, partitive veert)

1. edge

Declension

German Low German

Etymology

From Low German, from Middle Low German vêr, from Old Saxon fiuwar. Ultimately cognate to German vier, English four.

Numeral

veer

1. (in some dialects, including Low Prussian and Münsterland) four (4)

Coordinate terms

See also

• Plautdietsch: veea

Jutish

Etymology

From Old Norse vita.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?ve??]

Verb

veer

1. (Fjolde) to know

References

• “veer” in Anders Bjerrum and Marie Bjerrum (1974), Ordbog over Fjoldemålet, Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag.

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

veer m

1. indefinite plural of ve

Old French

Verb

veer

1. Alternative form of veoir

Old Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin vid?re, present active infinitive of vide?, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know; see”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?e?e?/

Verb

veer

1. to see
   • 13th century, Vindel manuscript, Martín Codax, Ai ondas que eu vim veer (facsimile)

     Ay ondas que eu uin ueer / ?e me ?aberedes dizer / por que tarda meu amigo s? mj

     Oh waves that I came to see / say unto me / Why my lover lingers thus away from me?

Descendants

• Galician: ver
• Portuguese: ver

Westrobothnian

Alternative forms

• vedär

Etymology

From Old Norse viðra, related to veðr (“weather”).

Verb

veer

1. let wind blow through something

Related terms

• ver