dependency

Or de·pend·an·cy

[dih-pen-duhn-see]

noun

plural

dependencies 

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 Word Forms

• nondependancy noun
• nondependency noun
• self-dependency noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dependency¹

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

Example Sentences

China’s manufacturing dominance in everything from green technology to pharmaceuticals creates important dependencies across the West.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Crucially, this also makes their batting a team effort with no particular dependency on one or two world-class players.

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It turned out that in a day of surprise dependencies, the biggest surprise was how much Amazon itself needed AWS.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

His tactics provide ammunition to hawks in Washington pushing to break America’s economic dependency on China.

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"Our collection and packaging reforms will support UK-based recycling, meaning we can reduce our dependency on exports of plastic waste," says the spokesperson.

Read more on BBC