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pendent

[pen-duh nt]
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adjective Also pendant.
  1. hanging or suspended: a pendent lamp.
  2. overhanging; jutting; projecting: pendent cliffs.
  3. undecided; undetermined; pending: a lawsuit that is still pendent.
  4. impending.
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noun
  1. pendant.
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Origin of pendent

1275–1325; < Latin pendent- (stem of pendēns), present participle of pendēre to hang; replacing Middle English pendaunt < Anglo-French (Old French pendant), present participle of pendre < Latin pendēre; see pendant
Related formspend·ent·ly, adverbnon·pend·ent, adjectivenon·pend·ent·ly, adverbsem·i·pend·ent, adjectiveun·pend·ent, adjective
Can be confusedpendant pendent pennant pundit
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for pendent

undetermined, unclear, uncertain, hesitant, doubtful, uncommitted, wavering, unsure, vague, ambivalent, problematic, unresolved, clouded, drooping, open, owing, moot, waffling, jutting, projecting

Examples from the Web for pendent

Historical Examples of pendent

  • He grovelled on the divan heavy in thought and with pendent arms.

    Therese Raquin

    Emile Zola

  • Descending the pendent rope, Paul disappears in the darkness.

    Oswald Langdon

    Carson Jay Lee

  • His dress consists of a high-crowned hat, and a pendent frill.

  • The pendent ornament called a tassel is a diminutive of Mid.

  • Mrs. Hooven had pendent earrings of imitation jet in her ears.

    The Octopus

    Frank Norris

British Dictionary definitions for pendent

pendent

adjective
  1. dangling
  2. jutting
  3. (of a grammatical construction) incompletea pendent nominative is a construction having no verb
  4. a less common word for pending (def. 2), pending (def. 3)
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noun
  1. a variant spelling of pendant
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Derived Formspendency, nounpendently, adverb

Word Origin for pendent

C15: from Old French pendant, from pendre to hang; see pendant
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 pendent

adj.

c.1600 respelling of Middle English pendaunt "hanging, overhanging" (late 14c., from Old French pendant; see pendant) on model of its Latin original, pendentem.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper