Vary vs Substitute - What's the difference?
vary | substitute | Related terms |
To change with time or a similar parameter.
To institute a change in, from a current state; to modify.
* Waller
* Dryden
Not to remain constant: to change with time or a similar parameter.
* Addison
(of the members of a group) To display differences.
To be or act different from the usual.
To make of different kinds; to make different from one another; to diversity; to variegate.
* Sir Thomas Browne
* Milton
(music) To embellish; to change fancifully; to present under new aspects, as of form, key, measure, etc. See variation .
(obsolete) To disagree; to be at variance or in dissension.
* Webster (1623)
(obsolete) Alteration; change.
To use in place of something else, with the same function.
In the phrase "substitute X for Y", to use X in place of Y. With increasing frequency used in the semantically opposite sense (see
In the phrase "substitute X with/by Y", to use Y in place of X; to replace X with Y
(sports) To remove (a player) from the field of play and bring on another in his place.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=April 11
, author=Phil McNulty
, title=Liverpool 3 - 0 Man City
, work=BBC Sport
To serve as a replacement (for someone or something)
* 1987 , , Essays in Economics, Vol. 2 , p. 75
A replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose.
* De Quincey
(sports) A player who is available to replace another if the need arises, and who may or may not actually do so.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=November 3
, author=David Ornstein
, title=Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke
, work=BBC Sport
(historical) One who enlists for military service in the place of a conscript.
In transitive terms the difference between vary and substitute
is that vary is to make of different kinds; to make different from one another; to diversity; to variegate while substitute is in the phrase "substitute X with/by Y", to use Y in place of X; to replace X with Y.In intransitive terms the difference between vary and substitute
is that vary is to be or act different from the usual while substitute is to serve as a replacement (for someone or something.vary
English
Verb
(en-verb)- He varies his magic tricks so as to minimize the possibility that any given audience member will see the same trick twice.
- You should vary your diet. Eating just bread will do you harm in the end.
- Gods, that never change their state, / Vary oft their love and hate.
- We are to vary the customs according to the time and country where the scene of action lies.
- His mood varies by the hour.
- The sine function varies between &
- x2212;1 and 1.
- While fear and anger, with alternate grace, / Pant in her breast, and vary in her face.
- ''The sprouting tendency of potatoes varies between cultivars, years and places of growing.
- I'm not comfortable with
3.Nc3
in the Caro-Kann, so I decided to vary and playexd5
.
- God hath varied their inclinations.
- God hath here / Varied his bounty so with new delights.
- the rich jewel which we vary for
Noun
(-)- (Shakespeare)
External links
* *Anagrams
* ----substitute
English
Verb
(substitut)- I had no shallots so I substituted onion.
the OED's notes).
- I had to substitute new parts for the old ones.
- I had to substitute old parts with the new ones. (This usage was formerly proscribed.)
- He was playing poorly and was substituted after twenty minutes
citation, page= , passage=Mario Balotelli replaced Tevez but his contribution was so negligible that he suffered the indignity of being substituted himself as time ran out, a development that encapsulated a wretched 90 minutes for City and boss Roberto Mancini. }}
- Accumulation of wealth by this route may substitute for personal saving.
Usage notes
The verb "to substitute" can be used transitively in two opposite ways. "To substitute X" may mean either "use X in place of something else" (as in definitions 1 and 2), or "use something else in place of X" (as in definitions 3 and 4). The latter use is more recent, but it is widespread and now generally accepted (seethe COED's note on the matter). However, if the indirect object (the "something else") is omitted, the preposition is also omitted, and the reader or hearer cannot tell which sense is meant: * "Substitute butter for olive oil" = Use butter instead of olive oil * "Substitute olive oil for butter" = Use olive oil instead of butter * "Substitute butter" = ??? * "Substitute olive oil" = ???
Noun
(en noun)- Ladies [in Shakespeare's age] wore masks as the sole substitute known to our ancestors for the modern parasol.
citation, page= , passage=Dean Whitehead opened the scoring shortly after the break with a low finish and substitute Peter Crouch sealed the win with a tap-in.}}