Sense 1.3.2 (“total number of distinct states of a system; logarithm to the base 2 of the total number of distinct states of a system”) was coined by the English psychiatristWilliam Ross Ashby (1903–1972) in his workAn Introduction to Cybernetics (1956).[2]
1791,Oliver Goldsmith, “Of the Tortoise, and Its Kinds”, inAn History of the Earth, and Animated Nature.[…], new edition, volume VI, London:[…] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr.[John] Nourse,[…],→OCLC,page347:
The difference, therefore, in theſe animals, ariſes rather from their habits than their confirmation; and, upon examination, there will be leſsvariety found betvween them than between birds that live upon land, and thoſe that ſwim upon the water.
The ſpirit of that competition burns / With allvarieties of ill by turns, / Each vainly magnifies his own ſucceſs, / Reſents his fellows, wiſhes it were leſs,[…]
1825,Thomas Carlyle, “Part II. From His Settlement at Manheim to His Settlement at Jena (1783–1790).”, inThe Life ofFriedrich Schiller.[…], London:[…][C. Richards] for Taylor and Hessey,[…],→OCLC,page77:
Yet the task of composing dramaticvarieties, of training players, and deliberating in the theatrical senate, or even of expressing philosophically his opinions on these points, could not wholly occupy such a mind as his.
In some respects he [Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon] was well fitted for his great place.[…] No man was better acquainted with general maxims of statecraft. No man observed thevarieties of character with a more discriminating eye.
1629,John Parkinson, “Aconitum. Wolfebane.”, inParadisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris.[…], London:[…] Hvmfrey Lownes and Robert Yovng[…],→OCLC,page215:
Many more ſorts ofvarieties of theſe kindes [ofAconitum anthora] there are, but theſe onely, as the moſt ſpecious, are nourſed vp in Floriſts Gardens for pleaſure; the other are kept by ſuch as are Catholicke obſeruers of all natures ſtore.
1708,J[ohn] Mortimer, “Rose-Tree”, inThe Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land.[…], 2nd edition, London:[…] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock[…], and J[onathan] Robinson[…],→OCLC, book XIII,page476:
But of all theſevarieties ofRoſes, the beſt and moſt eſtemed amongſt the Red, are thoſe called theRoſe of the VVorld, theRed Belgick, theRed Marble, theRoſe vvithout Thorns, and theRed Provence Roſe.
When we look to the individuals of the samevariety or sub-variety of our older cultivated plants and animals, one of the first points which strikes us, is, that they generally differ much more from each other, than do the individuals of any one species orvariety in a state of nature.
1980, Robert Dougall,AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page379:
Jim is a nurseryman, specialising in clematis, and he has built up a business exporting 150varieties to countries all over the world.
2014 March, James Lambert, “Diachronic Stability in Indian English Lexis”, inWorld Englishes[2], volume33, number 1, Oxford, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.:Pergamon Press for the International Association for World Englishes,→DOI,→ISSN,→OCLC, page114:
The mere existence of a dictionary of a certainvariety of English does not automatically confer acceptance of thatvariety.
1563 February 4 (Gregorian calendar), “A Memoriall for Sir Thomas Smyth Knight, Sent by the Quene’s Majestie the … of January 1562”, in[Patrick] Forbes, editor,A Full View of the Public Transactions in the Reign of Q. Elizabeth: Or A Particular Account of All the Memorable Affairs of That Queen,[…], volume II, London:[…] J. Bettenham, and sold by G. Hawkins,[…], published1741,→OCLC,page312:
But nether in this maner, nor any other particular procedyng, can we ſufficiently direct yow: but, notyng unto yow the generalitees of our deſyre, referr yow to apply your doings to thevarieté and occurrency of thyngs there.
1634,T[homas] H[erbert], “Of Mallabar”, inA Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia,[…], London:[…]William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome,→OCLC,page186:
And in this may receiue ſome immediate benefit, if by contemplation, hee behold thevarietie of temporary bleſſings, no part in the Vniuerſe exceeding theſe, not vvith-held from Pagan people afforded by Gods al-knovving and guiding Prouidence, vvhich notvvithſtanding being mixt vvith vnthankfulneſſe, damnable Idolatry, and variety of carnall obiects turne to their greater diſtruction, and endleſſe miſeries.
1791,Oliver Goldsmith, “Of Lythophytes and Sponges”, inAn History of the Earth, and Animated Nature.[…], new edition, volume VIII, London:[…] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr.[John] Nourse,[…],→OCLC,page122:
In other parts of the ſea are ſeen ſponges of various magnitude, and extraordinary appearances, aſſuming avariety of phantaſtic forms like large muſhrooms, mitres, fonts, and flovver-pots.
One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in avariety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.
2013 January, Katie L. Burke, “Book Review: Ecological Dependency: Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic. David Quammen. 587 pp. W. W. Norton and Company, 2012. $28.95.”, inAmerican Scientist[3], volume101, number 1, New Haven, Conn.:Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on22 January 2013, page64:
In his first book since the 2008 essay collectionNatural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature,David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.” His quest leads him around the world to study avariety of suspect zoonoses—animal-hosted pathogens that infect humans.
Nor is our body made of one parte onely, but of manye and diuerſe.[…] The diuers placyng and vſe is not to the member reprochful, but thisvarietie rather apertayneth to the welth of the whole body.
The teeth of sharks, for all theirvariety, share one characteristic, and that is the way in which they are attached. They are not permanent, but are constantly being replaced, not only when one is lost, but as a constant function of growth.
Variety can be preceded with either asingular orplural form of theverbbe: “thereis a variety of options to choose from” and “thereare a variety of options to choose from” are both considered grammatical. However, in the constructionvariety of [something], the wordvariety is generally followed by a pluralnoun and a plural form ofbe: “a variety of flavors were evident in the dish”.[3]
animal or plant (or a group of such animals or plants) with characteristics causing it to differ from other animals or plants of the same species—seecultivar
rank in a taxonomic classification below species and (if present) subspecies, and above form
^W[illiam] Ross Ashby (1956), “Quantity of Variety”, inAn Introduction to Cybernetics, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.:John Wiley & Sons[…],→OCLC, part 2 (Variety),page126: “The wordvariety, in relation to a set of distinguishable elements, will be used to mean either (i) the number of distinct elements, or (ii) the logarithm to the base 2 of the number, the context indicating the sense used.”
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, March 2022;“variety,n.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
algebraic variety on Wikipedia.Wikipedia