departure vs variance

departure and variance both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
departure	Yes	No	No	No
variance	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, variance is a hyponym of departure; that is, variance is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than departure:

Other hyponyms of departure include discrepancy, variant, driftage, flection, flexion, inflection.

departure (noun)	variance (noun)
the act of departing	an activity that varies from a norm or standard
euphemistic expressions for death	an official dispensation to act contrary to a rule or regulation (typically a building regulation)
a variation that deviates from the standard or norm	a difference between conflicting facts or claims or opinions
	the quality of being subject to variation
	the second moment around the mean; the expected value of the square of the deviations of a random variable from its mean value
	discord that splits a group
	an event that departs from expectations