Various ends in -ous, one of the standard Latin adjective suffixes in English, alongside curious, famous, generous and nervous. The word comes from Latin varius, "changing, different, diverse," and English took it in the early 1400s.
That -ous ending is worth recognising because it is so productive: English attaches it freely, and it almost always signals a word of Latin or French descent. The first English sense was "characterised by variety," and the now-dominant sense of "differing from one another" is recorded from the 1630s. The same Latin root gives vary, variety, variance and variegated — a family that has kept its shape unusually well, so that knowing one member tells you the meaning of the others, which is the general reward of learning to see Latin roots.
various (adj.) early 15c., "characterized by variety, of diverse kinds," from Latin varius "changing, different, diverse" (see vary ). The meaning "differing from one another, having a diversity of features" is recorded from 1630s. Related: Variously . also from early 15c.
various came in through Latin, and its spelling follows that family's conventions.
How that family writes these sounds
| the abstract endings | -tion/-sion, -ity, -ous, -ate, -al, -ive, -arynation, gravity, various, create, legal, active |
What gives it away on the page
| -tion/-sion, -ity, -ous, -ate, -al, -ive, -ary | The standard Latin suffix set, usually stacked on a Latin root.nation, gravity, various, create, legal, active |
Placing it without the spelling
| abstraction, law, administration — words written before they're spoken | Latinnation, gravity, various, accept |
| three or more syllables, stress in the middle, audibly assembled from parts | Latinimmediate, obstruct, various |