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variance

Pronunciation: /ˈvɛə.ɹi.əns/

The English word “variance” has 9 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. The act of varying or the state of being variable.
  2. A difference between what is expected and what is observed; deviation.
  3. The state of differing or being in conflict.
  4. An official permit to do something that is ordinarily forbidden by regulations.
  5. A discrepancy between two legal documents.
  6. A departure from a cause of action originally in a complaint.
  7. The second central moment in probability; the square of the standard deviation.
  8. The number of degrees of freedom in a system.
  9. Covariance and contravariance generally.

Etymology

From Middle English variance, variaunce, equivalent to vary + -ance, from Old French variance or directly from Anglo-Latin variaunce, veriaunce, wariaunce; all from Latin variantia.

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