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dependent

or de·pend·ant

[dih-pen-duh nt]
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adjective
  1. relying on someone or something else for aid, support, etc.
  2. conditioned or determined by something else; contingent: Our trip is dependent on the weather.
  3. subordinate; subject: a dependent territory.
  4. 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).
  5. hanging down; pendent.
  6. Mathematics.
    1. (of a variable) having values determined by one or more independent variables.
    2. (of an equation) having solutions that are identical to those of another equation or to those of a set of equations.
  7. Statistics. (of an event or a value) not statistically independent.
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noun
  1. a person who depends on or needs someone or something for aid, support, favor, etc.
  2. 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.
  3. Archaic. a subordinate part.
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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. 2018

Related Words

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

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British Dictionary definitions for dependent

dependent

sometimes US dependant

adjective
  1. depending on a person or thing for aid, support, life, etc
  2. (postpositive; foll by on or upon) influenced or conditioned (by); contingent (on)
  3. subordinate; subjecta dependent prince
  4. obsolete hanging down
  5. maths
    1. (of a variable) having a value depending on that assumed by a related independent variable
    2. (of a linear equation) having every solution as a solution of one or more given linear equations
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noun
  1. grammar an element in a phrase or clause that is not the governor
  2. a variant spelling (esp US) of dependant
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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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
dependent in Medicine

dependent

(dĭ-pĕn′dənt)
adj.
  1. Contingent on or subordinate to another.
  2. Relying on or requiring the aid of another for support.
  3. Hanging down.
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n.
  1. One who relies on another especially for financial support.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.