variant
n. countablen. a version of something that is slightly different from the original or standard form. You use this to talk about things like different types of a virus or different versions of a story.
n. a form or version of something that differs in some respect from other forms of the same thing or from a standard. Often used in scientific, linguistic, or technical contexts to describe mutations or regional differences.
The scientists are studying a new variant of the virus.
The software developer released a mobile variant of the application to reach users on different devices.
Linguists often document every regional variant of a dialect to understand how geographical isolation influences the evolution of specific vowel sounds over several generations.
Recorded since c.1380, from Old French variant, from Latin variāns, the present active participle of variō (“to change”).
Commonly followed by the preposition 'of' to indicate the source or standard being compared.