Variable /(?)/

Va·ri·a·ble

Variable

a.
  1. Having the capacity of varying or changing; capable of alternation in any manner; changeable; as, variable winds or seasons; a variable quantity.
  2. Liable to vary; too susceptible of change; mutable; fickle; unsteady; inconstant; as, the affections of men are variable; passions are variable.
    Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
    His heart, I know, how variable and vain!

Phrases & Compounds
Variable exhaust
a blast pipe with an adjustable opening.
Variable quantity
a variable.
Variable-rate mortgage
a mortgage whose percentage interest rate varies depending on some agreed standard, such as the prime rate; -- used often in financing the purchase of a home. Such a mortgage usually has a lower initial interest rate than a fixed-rate mortgage, and this permits buyers of a home to finance the purchase a house of higher price than would be possible with a fixed-rate loan.
Variable stars
fixed stars which vary in their brightness, usually in more or less uniform periods.

Variable

n.
  1. That which is variable; that which varies, or is subject to change.
  2. A quantity which may increase or decrease; a quantity which admits of an infinite number of values in the same expression; a variable quantity; as, in the equation x2 - y2 = R2, x and y are variables. (Math.)
  3. A shifting wind, or one that varies in force. (Naut.)

Phrases & Compounds
Independent variable
that one of two or more variables, connected with each other in any way whatever, to which changes are supposed to be given at will. Thus, in the equation x2 - y2 = R2, if arbitrary changes are supposed to be given to x, then x is the independent variable, and y is called a function of x. There may be two or more independent variables in an equation or problem. Cf. Dependent variable, under Dependent.