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, Mary–marry–merry distinction) 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.

    Depending on the variance of the type constructor, the subtyping relation of the simple types may be either preserved, reversed, or ignored for the respective complex types.

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.