difference vs variance

difference and variance both are nouns.

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

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

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

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

difference (noun)	variance (noun)
the quality of being unlike or dissimilar	an activity that varies from a norm or standard
a disagreement or argument about something important	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 number that remains after subtraction; the number that when added to the subtrahend gives the minuend	the quality of being subject to variation
a significant change	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