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| var·i·ance [ vérree ənss ] (plural var·i·anc·es) |
noun |
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| Definition: |
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1. change in something: a change that occurs in something
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2. difference between things: a difference between two or more things
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3. disagreement: a difference of opinion or attitude
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4. law discrepancy in something: a discrepancy between two statements, documents, or steps in a legal proceeding
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5. law legal dispensation: a dispensation to ignore a rule or law
  a zoning variance
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6. accounting difference in cost: a difference between actual costs and the usual costs of production
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7. statistics square of standard deviation: a statistical measure of the spread or variation of a group of numbers in a sample, equal to the square of the standard deviation. Other measures are the ratio of the squared standard deviation to the sample size population variance, and the ratio of the squared standard deviation to the sample size minus one sample variance.
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| [14th century. Via Old French< Latin variantia< variare (see vary)] |
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at variance conflicting, different, or in disagreement
comments that were at variance with their previous positive remarks
seeing these two powerful politicians at variance
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