Emily Dickinson Lexicon

VA'RI-A-BLE, a. [Fr. See Vary.]

1. That may vary or alter; capable of alteration in any manner; changeable; as, variable winds or seasons; variable colors.
2. Susceptible of change; liable to change; mutable; fickle; unsteady; inconstant; as, the affections of men are variable; passions are variable. His heart I know, how variable and vain. – Milton.
3. In mathematics, subject to continual increase or decrease; in opposition to constant, retaining the same value.