variance

[ vair-ee-uh ns ]

/ ˈvɛər i əns /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR variance ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the state, quality, or fact of being variable, divergent, different, or anomalous.

an instance of varying; difference; discrepancy.

Also called mean square deviation. Statistics. the square of the standard deviation.

Physics, Chemistry. the number of degrees of freedom of a system.

Law.

a difference or discrepancy, as between two statements or documents in law that should agree.
a departure from the cause of action originally stated in the complaint.

an official permit to do something normally forbidden by regulations, especially by building in a way or for a purpose normally forbidden by a zoning law or a building code.

a disagreement, dispute, or quarrel.

Idioms for variance

at variance,

(of things) in a state of difference or disagreement.
(of persons) in a state of controversy or dissension: at variance with one's superiors.

Origin of variance

1300–50; Middle English < Latin variantia, equivalent to vari(āre) to vary) + -antia -ance

OTHER WORDS FROM variance

non·var·i·ance, noun self-var·i·ance, noun

Words nearby variance

variable star, variable-density wind tunnel, variable-geometry, variable-pitch, variable-rate, variance, variant, variant creutzfeldt-jakob disease, variate, variation, varication

Example sentences from the Web for variance

And increased coverage explained 88% of the variance in death rate— an extremely strong correlation.

Is The Media Marketing Pain Pills to Addicts? |Maia Szalavitz |March 4, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
But we should remember that the economy explains the large majority of the variance in political trust and approval.

You Can Blame the Economy for President Obama's Unpopularity |Jamelle Bouie |November 13, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
But that conceals a great deal of variance in the outcomes: for some people, the expense isnt' worth it at all.

Educational Inequality |Megan McArdle |June 27, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Well, it suggests that college is to some extent a lottery; the averages are concealing a lot of variance.

Higher Education and Earnings: Now With Graphs |Megan McArdle |February 20, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

My mind is not made up fully as to whether the variance vitiates the Record or not.

Red-Tape and Pigeon-Hole Generals |William H. Armstrong
Even the virtuous fall sometimes to variance, when their virtues are of different kinds and tending to extremes.

Rasselas |Samuel Johnson
As one of the fruits of polygamy, the children of different mothers are always in a state of variance.

Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa |David Livingstone
It is impossible for two characters to be more at variance than the real and fictitious Falstaff.

The Every Day Book of History and Chronology |Joel Munsell
The practice was at variance with the old sessional order: it is consistent with the new standing order of 1845.

Notes & Queries, No. 38, Saturday, July 20, 1850 |Various

British Dictionary definitions for variance

variance

/ (ˈvɛərɪəns) /

noun

the act of varying or the quality, state, or degree of being divergent; discrepancy

an instance of diverging; dissension our variance on this matter should not affect our friendship

at variance

(often foll by with) (of facts, etc) not in accord; conflicting
(of persons) in a state of dissension

statistics a measure of dispersion obtained by taking the mean of the squared deviations of the observed values from their mean in a frequency distribution

a difference or discrepancy between two steps in a legal proceeding, esp between a statement in a pleading and the evidence given to support it

(in the US and Canada) a licence or authority issued by the board of variance to contravene the usual rule, esp to build contrary to the provision of a zoning code

chem the number of degrees of freedom of a system, used in the phase rule

accounting the difference between actual and standard costs of production

Medical definitions for variance

variance

[ vâr′ē-əns, văr′- ]

n.

The state or quality of being variant or variable; a variation.

The state or fact of differing or of being in conflict.

The square of the standard deviation.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

variance

noun

Idioms for variance

Origin of variance

OTHER WORDS FROM variance

Words nearby variance

Example sentences from the Web for variance

British Dictionary definitions for variance

noun

Medical definitions for variance

n.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

variance

noun

Idioms for variance

Origin of variance

OTHER WORDS FROM variance

Words nearby variance

Words related to variance

Example sentences from the Web for variance

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noun

Medical definitions for variance

n.

British Dictionary definitions for variance