variance

English Online Dictionary. What means variance‎? What does variance mean?

English

Alternative forms

• variaunce (obsolete)
• var (abbreviation)

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛː.ɹi.əns/
• (US, without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈvæɹ.i.əns/
• (US, Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛɹ.i.əns/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈveː.ɹi.əns/

Noun

variance (countable and uncountable, plural variances)

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. (law) A discrepancy between two legal documents.
6. (law) A departure from a cause of action originally in a complaint.
8. (statistics) The second central moment in probability.
9. (physics, chemistry, biology) The number of degrees of freedom in a system.
10. (computing, programming) Covariance and contravariance generally.

Derived terms

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin variantia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /va.ʁjɑ̃s/
• Rhymes: -ɑ̃s

Noun

variance f (plural variances)

1. variance

Further reading

• “variance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.