dependent

or de·pend·ant

[dih-pen-duh nt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dependent ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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.

noun

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

First recorded in 1375–1425, dependent is from the late Middle English word dependaunt. See depend, -ent

Related formsde·pend·ent·ly, adverbo·ver·de·pend·ent, adjectivepre·de·pend·ent, adjectivequa·si-de·pend·ent, adjectivequa·si-de·pend·ent·ly, adverbself-de·pend·ent, adjectiveself-de·pend·ent·ly, adverbsem·i·de·pend·ent, adjectivesem·i·de·pend·ent·ly, adverbun·de·pend·ent, adjective

Can be confuseddependant dependent

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

Related Words for dependent

poor, defenseless, vulnerable, reliant, susceptible, conditional, subordinate, inferior, minor, secondary, relative, reckoning, clinging, debased, immature, indigent, lesser, under, humbled

Examples from the Web for dependent

Contemporary Examples of dependent

In 2014, any dependent youth who earns more than $6,200 will have to report those earnings to the IRS.
Paying Taxes and Going to Jail Like Adults; Teens Deserve the Right to Vote, Too
Jillian Keenan
October 6, 2014
Seven of the ten Congressional candidates most dependent on the money of the ultra-rich were Democrats.
Dawn of the Age of Oligarchy: the Alliance between Government and the 1%
Joel Kotkin
June 28, 2014
Much of our ability is dependent on two rocket engines, the RD-180 and the NK-33/AJ26.
Why Does the USA Depend on Russian Rockets to Get Us Into Space?
P. J. O’Rourke
June 22, 2014
The bacteria are dependent on the nutrients being supplied to them in the lab.
Synthetic DNA: The New Drug Makers?
Elizabeth Lopatto
May 18, 2014
My living is dependent on that reputation and I worked hard to earn it.
Damn Right I Taped Kerry’s ‘Apartheid’ Talk
Josh Rogin
May 2, 2014

Historical Examples of dependent

But she could not get her mother's feeling of him as a helpless, dependent thing.
Life and Death of Harriett Frean
May Sinclair
I know little of them; and happily we shall not be dependent on the result of my management.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
Nay, would his uncle, on whom he was dependent, consent to such a refusal?
Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
We feel ourselves so dependent on it for all that is yet to come.
Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
We were both too young, too dependent and helpless, to do anything but accept our separation.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for dependent

dependent

sometimes US dependant

adjective

depending on a person or thing for aid, support, life, etc

(postpositive; foll by on or upon) influenced or conditioned (by); contingent (on)

subordinate; subjecta 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

noun

grammar an element in a phrase or clause that is not the governor

a variant spelling (esp US) of dependant

Derived Formsdependently, adverb

confusable

Avoid confusion with dependant

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 dependent

15c., variant spelling of dependant, now mostly restricted to adjectival use; see -ance. Dependent variable in mathematics is recorded from 1852.

dependent in Medicine

dependent

[dĭ-pĕn′dənt]

adj.

Contingent on or subordinate to another.

Relying on or requiring the aid of another for support.

Hanging down.

n.

One who relies on another especially for financial support.