# incorrect definition

The given definition is incorrect. In particular, not all variables refer to temporal processes. Further, calling a variable a placeholder does not serve to specify what a variable is, as these words are in most contexts synonymous.

Parting words from the person who closed the correction:
A very liberal attempt at defining all the senses of variable that one is likely to encounter. I have included the most common math definition, and added the original temporal definition as a different sense. Suggestions welcome.
Status: Accepted
Reference to the user who closed the correction.:
Reference to the article this correction is about:
Status of the article (was it accepted?):
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Status of the article (is it closed?):
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What kind of correction is this:
Error

### different definitions of "variable"

Actually, it might be a good idea to distinguish between
different senses of "variable":

(i) normal "mathematical" variables, which stand for some concrete object
e.g. x \in \real

(ii) "formal" variables used in formal polynomials and the like,
e.g. f(x) = 1 + x + x^2 + ... , where the x here is not restricted to be a a real number, complex number, etc.

(iii) "random variables" in statistics , which are really functions
on a measure space, but in practice are denoted with variable notation

(iv) state variables in computer algorithms, which are temporal.
e.g. x <- 2

Variables in mathematical logic, or formal parameters in algorithms might also fall in category (ii), but I'm not sure.

// Steve