- Dependent
- Dependent De*pend"ent, a. [L. dependens, -entis, p. pr.
dependere. See {Depend}, and cf. {Dependant}.]
1. Hanging down; as, a dependent bough or leaf.
[1913 Webster]
2. Relying on, or subject to, something else for support; not able to exist, or sustain itself, or to perform anything, without the will, power, or aid of something else; not self-sustaining; subordinate; -- often with on or upon; as, dependent on God; dependent upon friends. Opposite of {independent}. [Narrower terms: {interdependent, mutualist, mutually beneficial}; {parasitic, parasitical, leechlike, bloodsucking}; {subordinate}; {underage}; {myrmecophilous}; {symbiotic}] Also See: {unfree}. [1913 Webster]
England, long dependent and degraded, was again a power of the first rank. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
3. conditional; contingent or conditioned. Opposite of {unconditional}.
Syn: qualified. [WordNet 1.5]
4. addicted to drugs.
Syn: addicted, dependent, drug-addicted, hooked, strung-out. [WordNet 1.5]
{Dependent covenant} or {Dependent contract} (Law), one not binding until some connecting stipulation is performed.
{Dependent variable} (Math.), a varying quantity whose changes are arbitrary, but are regarded as produced by changes in another variable, which is called the {independent variable}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.