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variant Definition

vari·ant (--ənt)

adjective

  1. varying; different; esp., different in some way from others of the same kind or class, or from some standard or type
  2. Archaic variable; changeable

Etymology: OFr < L varians: see variance

noun

anything that is variant, as a different spelling of the same word, a different version of a tale, myth, or literary passage, etc.

variant Synonyms

variant

modif.

varying, exceptional, differing; see irregular 1, various.

variant Synonyms

variant

n.

different version, alternative, alternative reading, modification, result of variation, exceptional instance, irregularity; see also exception 2.

Variant Hacker Definition
A term with a variety of meanings. For example, the “implementation” of a component describes how it is constructed; thus, a primitive implementation describes a component implemented by some source document—the source code of a programming language, scripts of commands for an operating system shell, or data in a file in the file system. The implementation of a primitive component, therefore, consists of a list of implementation variants—or alternative implementations. So, if a component has more than one variant defined in its primitive implementation, the specific variant to be used during system construction can be selected using the variant property. In short, a variant definition consists of a name, a pointer to a file in the operating system containing the source document that implements it, and properties that further specify the variant.

Moreover, next-generation versions of worms and viruses are often referred to as variants of the base type. Virus numbering schemes reflect the notion of variants by giving viruses a base name and appending a letter or number to identify the variant, such as Sobig.a and Sobig.f.

See Also: Malware; Polymorphic Virus; Virus; Worm.

Zelesnick, G. Primitive Implementation. [Online, May 12, 1996.] Carnegie Mellon University Website. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~UniCon/reference-manual/Reference_ Manual_30.html.
variant Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • gene: The genotype of an organism is the specific and characteristic combination of variants of all genes the organism carries.

Converse of object

  • splice: Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been described; however, their full length nature has not been determined.
  • encode: Within these fundamentally different approaches, there are several encoding variants.
  • detect: For now we detect 2 variants, they are very similar and just differ with their encryption at the first layer.

Adjective modifier

  • allelic: This requires a large-scale genotyping and bioinformatics program, in crop and model systems, that relates allelic variants to gene function.
  • textual: There must have been serious textual variants between the texts to warrant such action.
  • genetic: The project is looking for new genetic variants linked to diabetes type I, with cooperation from clinicians across the UK.
  • minor: Minor variants exist of the basic design of recovery vehicle.
  • slight: Make sure you don't have slight variants which will create new entries.

Modifies a noun

  • cjd: The same theory could explain some cases of new variant CJD in humans.
  • spelling: We will be offering a means of searching for all of the variant spellings automatically in a later stage of the project.
  • allele: Altered cell surface expression of human MC1R variant receptor alleles associated with red hair and skin cancer risk.
  • reading: He applies the same argument to some of the recorded variant readings of the Qur'an.
  • ending: None of the variant endings were the work of the original writer.

Noun used with modifier

  • splice: The presence or absence of expression of these splice variants is being documented in normal tissues and a spectrum of brain tumors.
  • pronunciation: First, within-word pronunciation variants were generated by applying a set of five optional phonological rules to the words in the baseline lexicon.
  • within-word: First, within-word pronunciation variants were generated by applying a set of five optional phonological rules to the words in the baseline lexicon.
  • vernacular: If women were more integrated into such networks, then they might use more vernacular variants than men.
  • gene: Why should the presence of the shorter gene variant make such a difference?
  • spelling: You will need to consider spelling variants, abbreviations, alternative meanings and to identify broader and narrower terms.