English Explanatory Dictionary

dependent

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Relying upon; depending upon.
  2. Having a probability that is affected by the outcome of a separate event.
  3. Used after a particle (with one or two exceptions), such as those which express questions, subordinate clauses, and negative sentences.
  4. Of part of the body: positioned lower than the heart, like the legs while standing up, or the back while supine.
  5. Hanging down.
noun
  1. A person who relies on another for support or sustenance, particularly financial support.
  2. An element in phrase or clause structure that is not the head. Includes complements, modifiers and determiners.
  3. The aorist subjunctive or subjunctive perfective: a form of a verb not used independently but preceded by a particle to form the negative or a tense form. Found in Greek and in the Gaelic languages.
  4. dependent (origination), in Buddhism, the idea that the existence of everything is conditional and dependent on a cause, and that nothing happens fortuitously or by chance.

Pronunciation

/dɪˈpɛndənt/ en-us-dependent.ogg

Word forms

dependent more dependent most dependent dependant dependents

Etymology

From Middle English dependaunt, dependent, from Middle French dependant (present participle of dependre (“to depend”)) and Latin dēpendēns (present participle of dēpendeō (“to depend”)). By surface analysis, depend + -ent.

Synonyms

reliant contingent dependent

Antonyms

independent self-reliant

Related words

agreeable correspondent friendly depend dependee dependence dependency dependent clause dependent variable depender

Derived words

accommodating dependent antedependent case dependent case-dependent context-dependent cyber-dependent dependapotamus dependently dependent personality disorder disquieted dependent domestic dependent nation hyperdependent immature dependent ineffectual dependent inter-dependent interdependent language-dependent light-dependent resistor linearly dependent nondependent order-dependent overdependent passive-dependent phosphodependent photodependent redshift-dependent selfless dependent semidependent system-dependent time-dependent undependent co-dependent depending
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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