dependent

/dɪˈpɛndənt/
adjectivenoun

Relying upon; depending upon.

NWL Collins ENABLE

Adjective 4 meanings

  1. Relying upon; depending upon.

    “At that point I was dependent on financial aid for my tuition.”

  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.

Noun 4 meanings

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

    “With two children and an ailing mother, she had three dependents in all.”

  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.

Definitions: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA) via Kaikki/Wiktextract

Where it comes from

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.

Similar and opposite words

Similar
reliantcontingent
Opposite
independent

DEPENDENT at a glance

DEPENDENT has 9 letters and scores 13 points in Scrabble (D 2 + E 1 + P 3 + E 1 + N 1 + D 2 + E 1 + N 1 + T 1) and 16 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #4,358 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.

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