dependent
or de·pend·ant
relying on someone or something else for aid, support, etc.
conditioned or determined by something else; contingent: Our trip is dependent on the weather.
subordinate; subject: a dependent territory.
Grammar. not used in isolation; used only in connection with other forms. In I walked out when the bell rang, when the bell rang is a dependent clause.: Compare independent (def. 14), main1 (def. 4).
hanging down; pendent.
Mathematics.
(of a variable) having values determined by one or more independent variables.
(of an equation) having solutions that are identical to those of another equation or to those of a set of equations.
Statistics. (of an event or a value) not statistically independent.
a person who depends on or needs someone or something for aid, support, favor, etc.
a child, spouse, parent, or certain other relative to whom one contributes all or a major amount of necessary financial support: She listed two dependents on her income-tax form.
Archaic. a subordinate part.
Origin of dependent
1Other words from dependent
- de·pend·ent·ly, de·pend·ant·ly, adverb
- o·ver·de·pend·ent, adjective
- pre·de·pend·ent, adjective
- qua·si-de·pend·ent, adjective
- qua·si-de·pend·ent·ly, adverb
- self-de·pend·ent, adjective
- self-de·pend·ent·ly, adverb
- sem·i·de·pend·ent, adjective
- sem·i·de·pend·ent·ly, adverb
- un·de·pend·ent, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use dependent in a sentence
Clinging to him so dependently, she taught him in time to presume upon that devotion—a lesson men are not slow to learn.
A Pair of Blue Eyes | Thomas HardyAnd yet but now they were charged with “getting it” too dependently, or rather, with having it “got” for them by man!
Ceres' Runaway | Alice MeynellThe world has come but once; the witness is there after the fact and simply approves, dependently.
The Letters of William James, Vol. II | William James
British Dictionary definitions for dependent
sometimes US dependant
/ (dɪˈpɛndənt) /
depending on a person or thing for aid, support, life, etc
(postpositive; foll by on or upon) influenced or conditioned (by); contingent (on)
subordinate; subject: a dependent prince
obsolete hanging down
maths
(of a variable) having a value depending on that assumed by a related independent variable
(of a linear equation) having every solution as a solution of one or more given linear equations
grammar an element in a phrase or clause that is not the governor
a variant spelling (esp US) of dependant
confusable For dependent
Derived forms of dependent
- dependently, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse