Which to use
“variance” and “variante” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,640
- “variance” frequency rank
- #11,876
- “variante” frequency rank
- 48516
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | variance | variante |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mesure de la dispersion des échantillons autour de la moyenne. | Version d’un même texte, d’une histoire, d’un mot, d’une lettre. |
Where the eye mixes variance and variante
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: variance vs variante
A purely visual mix-up. variance (\va.ʁjɑ̃s\) and variante (\va.ʁjɑ̃t\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - c in “variance” becomes t in “variante”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
variance is recorded at frequency rank #36,640, classified as anoun, pronounced \va.ʁjɑ̃s\. variante is at rank #11,876, tagged as anoun, pronounced \va.ʁjɑ̃t\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 48516, this pair ranks #178,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of variance vs variante
Shared letters: aeinrv. Private to "variance": c. Private to "variante": t.
"variance" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV · "variante" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "variance" and "variante" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "variance" or "variante" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "variance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "variante" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #178,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "variance" and "variante" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Varane vs variance". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #178,297 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.