Word
variance
Phoneticsvari·ance
US/ˈvɛɹiəns/
UK/vˈeəɹiəns/
Definitions
01difference or change
n. the state of being different or the act of changing.
n. the quality or state of being variable; the act of varying or changing from a standard.
“There is a lot of variance in the weather patterns this year.”
“The study noted a significant variance in student performance across different socioeconomic backgrounds, suggesting that external factors played a major role.”
Academic
Antonyms
02discrepancy or deviation
n. a difference between what you expected to happen and what actually happened.
n. a discrepancy between two statements, documents, or between an expected value and an observed result.
“The accountant found a small variance between the budget and the actual spending.”
“A detailed audit revealed a substantial variance between the projected quarterly earnings and the actual revenue generated by the overseas branches.”
Academic · Formal
Synonyms
03statistical spread
n. a number that shows how spread out a set of data is.
n. the square of the standard deviation; a measure of how far a set of numbers is spread out from their average value.
“The scientist calculated the variance to see how much the test results differed.”
“In probability theory, variance measures the degree to which a random variable deviates from its expected mean, providing a foundation for risk assessment.”
Technical
Usage
Often used as an uncountable noun in mathematical contexts.
Synonyms
04legal permission
n. official permission to do something that is usually not allowed by the rules.
n. an official permit to depart from the requirements of a zoning ordinance or regulation.
“The builder had to apply for a variance to build a taller house than the law allowed.”
“The city council granted the developer a zoning variance, allowing for the construction of a commercial facility in a primarily residential district.”
Formal · Technical
05at variance (in conflict)
n. to be in disagreement or conflict with something else.
n. the state of being in disagreement or conflict; typically used in the prepositional phrase 'at variance with'.
“His actions were at variance with his promises to help the community.”
“The witness's testimony was found to be at variance with the physical evidence collected at the scene, leading the jury to doubt his credibility.”
Formal · Literary
Usage
Almost exclusively used in the fixed phrase 'at variance with'.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“In other states, a patchwork of AI approaches has emerged, with variance from one school district to another.” 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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.