<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>The state, quality, or fact of being variable, divergent, different, or anomalous.</li><li>An instance of varying; difference; discrepancy.</li><li>Also called mean square deviation.</li><li>Statistics: the square of the standard deviation.</li><li>Physics, Chemistry: the number of degrees of freedom of a system.</li><li>Law: a difference or discrepancy, as between two statements or documents in law that should agree.</li><li>A departure from the cause of action originally stated in the complaint.</li><li>An official permit to do something normally forbidden by regulations, especially by building in a way or for a purpose normally forbidden by a zoning law or a building code.</li><li>A disagreement, dispute, or quarrel.</li></ul>