var

The root var comes from Latin varius, meaning 'different, diverse, many-colored, changeable.' In its earliest use, varius described things that were spotted, mottled, or patchy — a coat with different-colored markings, a sky streaked with clouds. From this literal sense of 'not all the same' grew the abstract idea of difference and change that runs through the English var- family.

The everyday members are easy to see: vary (to change), various (of different kinds), variety (a range of different things), variable (able to change), and variation (an instance of change). The shared logic is simple — wherever you see var-, something is differing or shifting from a baseline.

This entry focuses on the less obvious members. Add the negative prefix in- (not) and you reverse the whole idea: invariable means 'not changing, always the same,' and the adverb invariably means 'always, without exception' — literally 'in a way that never varies.' Notice how the negation flips a root about difference into one about constancy.

The real surprise is prevaricate, 'to speak evasively, to dodge the truth.' It comes from Latin praevaricari, built on varicare 'to straddle, to spread the legs apart' — itself related to varus 'bent, crooked.' A praevaricator was originally a ploughman who drove a crooked furrow, then a lawyer who 'walked crookedly' by colluding with the opposing side. The thread back to varius is the idea of deviating, of not going straight — of differing from the honest, direct path. So when someone prevaricates, picture them weaving and straddling rather than walking the straight line of truth.

The family rule: var- marks deviation from sameness. Most members deviate in the neutral sense of 'change' or 'variety'; in- words deny that deviation (constancy); and prevaricate keeps the oldest, most physical sense — going crooked instead of straight.