dependent

English Online Dictionary. What means dependent‎? What does dependent mean?

English

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈpɛndənt/
• Hyphenation: de‧pend‧ent

Adjective

dependent (comparative more dependent, superlative most dependent)

1. Relying upon; depending upon.
2. (statistics) Having a probability that is affected by the outcome of a separate event.
3. (of Irish/Manx/Scottish (Gaelic) verb forms) Used after a particle (with one or two exceptions), such as those which express questions, subordinate clauses, and negative sentences.
4. (medicine) Of part of the body: positioned lower than the heart, like the legs while standing up, or the back while supine.
5. Hanging down.

Alternative forms

• dependant (obsolete)

Synonyms

Antonyms

• independent

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

dependent (plural dependents) (American spelling)

2. A person who relies on another for support or sustenance, particularly financial support.

3. (grammar) An element in phrase or clause structure that is not the head. Includes complements, modifiers and determiners.
4. (grammar) 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.
5. (philosophy) 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.

Alternative forms

• dependant (UK, Commonwealth)

Antonyms

• independent

Derived terms

• co-dependent
• depending

Translations

Related terms

References

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēpendentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [də.pənˈden]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [də.pənˈdent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [de.penˈdent]

Adjective

dependent m or f (masculine and feminine plural dependents)

1. dependent

   Antonym: independent

Derived terms

• codependent
• dependentment

Related terms

• dependència
• dependre
• independent

Further reading

• “dependent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “dependent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “dependent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “dependent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Ladin

Noun

dependent m (plural dependenc)

1. employee

Latin

Verb

dēpendent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of dēpendeō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French dépendant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.penˈdent/

Adjective

dependent m or n (feminine singular dependentă, masculine plural dependenți, feminine and neuter plural dependente)

1. dependent

   Antonym: independent

Declension

Related terms

• dependență