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noun var·i·ance \ˈver-ē-ən(t)s\

Simple Definition of variance

  • : an amount of difference or change

  • law : an official decision or document that allows someone to do something that is not usually allowed by the rules

Full Definition of variance

  1. 1 :  the fact, quality, or state of being variable or variant :  difference, variation <yearly variance in crops>

  2. 2 :  the fact or state of being in disagreement :  dissension, dispute

  3. 3 :  a disagreement between two parts of the same legal proceeding that must be consonant

  4. 4 :  a license to do some act contrary to the usual rule <a zoning variance>

  5. 5 :  the square of the standard deviation

at variance
  1. :  not in harmony or agreement

Examples of variance

  1. There was some variance in the results.

  2. We noticed a slight variance between the quality of the samples.

  3. He had to get a variance to add a garage on to his house.

14th Century

First Known Use of variance

14th century

Synonym Discussion of variance


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February 11, 2016

the holder of an office

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