dependency

or de·pend·an·cy

[dih-pen-duh n-see]

noun, plural de·pend·en·cies.

the state of being dependent; dependence.

something dependent or subordinate; appurtenance.

an outbuilding or annex.

a subject territory that is not an integral part of the ruling country.

Origin of dependency

First recorded in 1585–95; dependence + -y³

Related formsnon·de·pend·an·cy, noun, plural non·de·pend·an·cies.non·de·pend·en·cy, noun, plural non·de·pend·en·cies.self-de·pend·en·cy, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dependancy

Contemporary Examples of dependancy

The dependancy means any wrong move can have devastating consequences.
Why The Palestinian Authority Is Broke
George Hale
October 25, 2012

Historical Examples of dependancy

The place is full of Swedish troops, and several officers are quartered in the house of which my hen-coop is a dependancy.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 20. December, 1877.
Various
I had rather die than return to a dependancy upon relations I have disobliged.
A Letter Book
George Saintsbury

British Dictionary definitions for dependancy

dependency

sometimes US dependancy

noun plural -cies

a territory subject to a state on which it does not border

a dependent or subordinate person or thing

psychol overreliance by a person on another person or on a drug, etc

another word for dependence

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

Word Origin and History for dependancy

early variant of dependency, rare since c.1800; see -ance.

dependency

1590s (adj.), 1610s (n.); see dependent + -cy. Originally also dependancy, on the French model, but the Latinate form gradually pushed this into disuse; see -ance. Meaning "territory subordinate to another nation" is recorded from 1680s.