depend

[dih-pend]

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verb (used without object)

to rely; place trust (usually followed by on or upon): You may depend on the accuracy of the report.

to rely for support, maintenance, help, etc. (usually followed by on or upon): Children depend on their parents.

to be conditioned or contingent (usually followed by on or upon): His success here depends upon effort and ability.

to be undetermined or pending: I may go to Europe or I may not, it all depends.

Grammar. (of a word or other linguistic form) to be subordinate to another linguistic form in the same construction; to form a part of a construction other than the head.

to hang down; be suspended (usually followed by from): The chandelier depends from the ceiling of the ballroom.

Origin of depend

1375–1425; late Middle English dependen < Old French dependre < Latin dēpendere to hang down, equivalent to dē- de- + pendere to hang

Related formsin·ter·de·pend, verb (used without object)re·de·pend, verb (used without object)self-de·pend·ing, adjective

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

Related Words for depended

bottom, hang, rest, stay, found, ground, pend

Examples from the Web for depended

Contemporary Examples of depended

Where the U.S. once depended on its own forces to determine who was military material, this time the Iraqis will decide.
Pentagon Insider on New Plan to Fight ISIS: ‘Of Course It’s Not Enough’
Nancy A. Youssef
January 6, 2015
The offensive that toppled Mosul also depended on another key factor: the will to fight.
Has ISIS Peaked as a Military Power?
Jacob Siegel
October 22, 2014
To never, ever, ever put my livelihood in a position where I depended on white people liking me.
Men Without a Country: Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, My Father and Me
Arthur Chu
August 12, 2014
Almost half of suburban housing, notes historian Alan Wolfe, depended on some form of federal financing.
In the Future We'll All Be Renters: America's Disappearing Middle Class
Joel Kotkin
August 10, 2014
But they depended on Bell as an expert and a negotiator, fluent in Arabic and used to the schisms and vendettas of the region.
Gertrude of Arabia, the Woman Who Invented Iraq
Clive Irving
June 17, 2014

Historical Examples of depended

The stability of the Whig administration, then in power, depended upon the results.
The Grand Old Man
Richard B. Cook
I never yet saw one that could be depended upon to stand by.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 7, May 14, 1870
Various
In her heart she knew that on the first depended the second.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
What the moral ends were depended upon the growth of the moral ideal.
Understanding the Scriptures
Francis McConnell
These enchantresses, you must know, are never to be depended upon.
Tanglewood Tales
Nathaniel Hawthorne

British Dictionary definitions for depended

depend

verb (intr)

(foll by on or upon) to put trust (in); rely (on); be sure (of)

(usually foll by on or upon; often with it as subject) to be influenced or determined (by); be resultant (from)whether you come or not depends on what father says; it all depends on you

(foll by on or upon) to rely (on) for income, support, etc

(foll by from) rare to hang down; be suspended

to be undecided or pending

Word Origin for depend

C15: from Old French dependre, from Latin dēpendēre to hang from, from de- + pendēre to hang

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 depended

depend

early 15c., "to be attached to as a condition or cause," a figurative use, from Middle French dependre, literally "to hang from, hang down," from Latin dependere "to hang from, hang down; be dependent on, be derived," from de- "from, down" (see de-) + pendere "to hang, be suspended" (see pendant). Related: Depended; depending.