alteration, change, modification - an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another; "the change was intended to increase sales"; "this storm is certainly a change for the worse"; "the neighborhood had undergone few modifications since his last visit years ago"

vicissitude - a variation in circumstances or fortune at different times in your life or in the development of something; "the project was subject to the usual vicissitudes of exploratory research"

allomerism - (chemistry) variability in chemical composition without variation in crystalline form

deviation, difference, divergence, departure - a variation that deviates from the standard or norm; "the deviation from the mean"

permutation, replacement, substitution, switch, transposition - an event in which one thing is substituted for another; "the replacement of lost blood by a transfusion of donor blood"

business cycle, trade cycle - recurring fluctuations in economic activity consisting of recession and recovery and growth and decline

daily variation - fluctuations that occur between one day and the next

diurnal variation - fluctuations that occur during each day

tide - something that may increase or decrease (like the tides of the sea); "a rising tide of popular interest"

activity - any specific activity; "they avoided all recreational activity"

melodic theme, musical theme, theme, idea - (music) melodic subject of a musical composition; "the theme is announced in the first measures"; "the accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it"

inversion - (counterpoint) a variation of a melody or part in which ll ascending intervals are replaced by descending intervals and vice versa

type - a subdivision of a particular kind of thing; "what type of sculpture do you prefer?"

mongrel, bastard - derogatory term for a variation that is not genuine; something irregular or inferior or of dubious origin; "the architecture was a kind of bastard suggesting Gothic but not true Gothic"

thing - an artifact; "how does this thing work?"

angle - the space between two lines or planes that intersect; the inclination of one line to another; measured in degrees or radians

astronomy, uranology - the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole

perturbation - (physics) a secondary influence on a system that causes it to deviate slightly

libration - (astronomy) a real or apparent slow oscillation of a moon or satellite; "the libration of the moon"

organism, being - a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently

biological science, biology - the science that studies living organisms

freak, lusus naturae, monstrosity, monster - a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed

dancing, terpsichore, dance, saltation - taking a series of rhythmical steps (and movements) in time to music

ballet, concert dance - a theatrical representation of a story performed to music by ballet dancers

change - the action of changing something; "the change of government had no impact on the economy"; "his change on abortion cost him the election"