Variety

1. The quality or state of: differing in kind; consisting of dissimilar constituents or parts (that may not be unified or compatible); having different values, opinions, or backgrounds.

2. The quality or state of having numerous forms or types. An intermixture or succession of different things, forms, or qualities. A multiplicity of things within the same class or category that can be distinguished, often by marked differences.

3. The variety of anything is its number of distinguishable elements. Every conceptual step which enriches the nature of a system under study increases the information about it, increases the uncertainty informing it, and proliferates its variety.

4. The total number of possible states of a system, or of an element of a system.