The spelling of the word "variance" is determined by its pronunciation, represented phonetically as /ˈvɛəriəns/. The initial "v" is followed by an "a" pronounced as the long "a" sound /eɪ/. The following "r" is pronounced as a consonant /r/, then followed by the vowel "i" which is pronounced as the short "i" sound /ɪ/. The final syllable is pronounced with the long "a" sound /əns/. The spelling of "variance" reflects the English language's complex phonetics and demonstrates the importance of learning correct pronunciation and spelling.
Variance is a statistical term that measures the extent to which a set of data points or values differ or deviate from their mean or average. It is a quantitative measure of variability or dispersion, indicating how spread out the values in a distribution are.
In statistics, variance is commonly denoted by the symbol "σ^2" (sigma squared) for a population, and "s^2" for a sample. It is calculated by taking the sum of the squared differences between each individual data point and the mean, dividing it by the total number of data points (population) or by the total number of data points minus one (sample).
The concept of variance is helpful in understanding the spread or scatter of data. A low variance suggests that the data points are closely clustered around the mean, indicating a relatively consistent and reliable data set. On the other hand, a high variance implies that the data points are more widely dispersed from the mean, indicating greater variability and a wider range of values.
Variance is extensively used in various fields such as finance, economics, engineering, and social sciences to analyze and interpret data. It assists in determining the level of risk or uncertainty associated with a particular set of data and plays a crucial role in decision-making, forecasting, and hypothesis testing.
Disagreement; difference; controversy; dissension; at variance, in a state of disagreement or enmity.
Etymological and pronouncing dictionary of the English language. By Stormonth, James, Phelp, P. H. Published 1874.
* The statistics data for these misspellings percentages are collected from over 15,411,110 spell check sessions on www.spellchecker.net from Jan 2010 - Jun 2012.
The word "variance" has its origins in the Latin word "variantia", which is derived from the root word "varius", meaning "different" or "diverse". It entered the English language through Old French, where it was called "variance". Over time, the spelling and pronunciation slightly evolved, but the basic meaning of "difference" or "disagreement" remained consistent.