dependency

or de·pend·an·cy

[ dih-pen-duhn-see ]

noun

, plural de·pend·en·cies.

1. the state of being dependent; dependence.
2. something dependent or subordinate; appurtenance.
3. an outbuilding or annex.
4. a subject territory that is not an integral part of the ruling country.

dependency

/ dɪˈpɛndənsɪ /

noun

1. a territory subject to a state on which it does not border
2. a dependent or subordinate person or thing
3. psychol overreliance by a person on another person or on a drug, etc
4. another word for dependence

Other Words From

• nonde·pendan·cy noun plural nondependancies
• nonde·penden·cy noun plural nondependencies
• self-de·penden·cy noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dependency¹

First recorded in 1585–95; dependence + -y ³

Example Sentences

Humans also have slow life histories relative to many other species, with long periods of infancy and childhood dependency.

From Nautilus

These transformer systems in the BERT world are becoming ubiquitous, however this quadratic dependency issue with the attention mechanism in BERT is well known.

From Search Engine Land

So we’re seeing a lot of applications that their dependency on fast processing of data is becoming very important to them.

From MIT Technology Review

The LSA algorithm, which drives the cost-per-call market, has significant advertiser dependencies.

From Search Engine Land

These were the businesses some observers said would struggle to survive without ads on Facebook such is their dependency on the social network for revenue.

From Digiday

It is now a so called Crown Dependency, meaning it falls under the sovereignty of  the British Crown, but is not part of the U.K.

From The Daily Beast

So the dependency story is strange and uneven, and especially nasty when it comes to women.

From The Daily Beast

All of this, of course, is carried on in the age of extreme welfare dependency and of computer addiction.

From The Daily Beast

And needless to say, smoking dope in the past month is not evidence of abuse or dependency.

From The Daily Beast

Too many Americans—including Christians—are afraid that helping the poor will create ‘dependency.’

From The Daily Beast

Occasional gifts do not prove dependency, yet purely voluntary contributions may establish dependency.

From Project Gutenberg

On our arriving at the next village, a dependency of Father Ambrosio's, we were invited into the house of the commandant.

From Project Gutenberg

He died regretted, in the year this dependency was colonised.

From Project Gutenberg

It was the pinnacle from which hung as a dependency all the eldest of families.

From Project Gutenberg

The revolt of one great dependency brought with it a threatened revolt from another.

From Project Gutenberg