Dependency to Depopulation
Dependency
(De*pend"en*cy) n.; pl. Dependencies
1. State of being dependent; dependence; state of being subordinate; subordination; concatenation; connection; reliance; trust.
Any long series of action, the parts of which have very much dependency each on the other.
Sir J.
Reynolds.
So that they may acknowledge their dependency on the crown of England.
Bacon. 2. A thing hanging down; a dependence.
3. That which is attached to something else as its consequence, subordinate, satellite, and the like.
This earth and its dependencies.
T. Burnet.
Modes I call such complex ideas which . . . are considered as dependencies on or affections of substances.
Locke. 4. A territory remote from the kingdom or state to which it belongs, but subject to its dominion; a colony; as,
Great Britain has its dependencies in Asia, Africa, and America.
Dependence is more used in the abstract, and dependency in the concrete. The latter is usually restricted
in meaning to 3 and 4.
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.
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; contingent or conditioned; subordinate; —
often with on or upon; as, dependent on God; dependent upon friends.
England, long dependent and degraded, was again a power of the first rank.
Macaulay. Dependent covenant or 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.
Dependent
(De*pend"ent), n.
1. One who depends; one who is sustained by another, or who relies on another for support of favor; a
hanger-on; a retainer; as, a numerous train of dependents.
A host of dependents on the court, suborned to play their part as witnesses.
Hallam. 2. That which depends; corollary; consequence.
With all its circumstances and dependents.
Prynne. See the Note under Dependant.
Dependently
(De*pend"ent*ly), adv. In a dependent manner.
Depender
(De*pend"er) n. One who depends; a dependent.
Dependingly
(De*pend"ing*ly), adv. As having dependence. Hale.
