The fact or quality of being different, divergent, or inconsistent. There was a noticeable variance in the results of the two experiments.
A discrepancy between two statements or documents. The variance between the two contracts caused confusion during the negotiation.
In statistics, a measure of the dispersion of a set of data points around their mean value. The variance of the dataset was calculated to understand the spread of the values.
An official permit to do something that is normally not allowed by regulations. The company applied for a variance to build a taller structure than the zoning laws typically permit.