várias

Várias is a feminine plural adjective in Portuguese that means “several” or “various.” It is used to modify feminine plural nouns, as in várias pessoas or várias opções, and it can appear at the beginning of a clause in a predicative sense, as in várias são as razões.

Grammatical use and forms: The word agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. For masculine contexts, the corresponding form is vários. It is common in both formal and informal writing and speech. The phrase várias vezes is a frequent collocation meaning “several times.”

Nuance and usage: Várias emphasizes a countable quantity of items or instances, often with a sense of diversity among elements. It is frequently compared with diversas, which tends to foreground variety or differences rather than a precise number. In some constructions, várias can function similarly to a determiner or a predeterminer, especially in stylistic or emphatic uses, such as Várias são as soluções possíveis.

Etymology and related terms: Várias derives from a Latin root meaning “varying” or “diverse.” It has cognates in other Romance languages, such as várias in Spanish and various in English, reflecting a shared Indo-European lineage of words related to diversity or multiplicity.

See also: Portuguese adjectives of quantity, gender and number agreement in Portuguese, and related terms such as várias, várias vezes, diversas.

Note: While primarily a grammatical term, várias is not a proper noun and does not, in standard usage, refer to a specific place or organization.