depend (v.)

mid-15c., "to be attached to as a condition or cause, be a conditional effect or result," a figurative use, also literal, "to hang, be sustained by being attached to something above;" from Old French dependre, literally "to hang from, hang down," and directly from Latin dependere "to hang from, hang down; be dependent on, be derived," from de "from, down" (see de-) + pendere "to hang, cause to hang; weigh" (from PIE root *(s)pen- "to draw, stretch, spin").

From c. 1500 as "to rely, rest in full confidence or belief;" from 1540s as "be sustained by, be dependent (on)." Related: Depended; depending.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to depend

dependable (adj.)

"capable or worthy of being depended upon, trustworthy," 1735, from depend + -able. Related: Dependability; dependably; dependableness.

dependence (n.)

early 15c., dependaunce, "consequence, result, relation of a conclusion to a premise or an effect to a cause," from Old French dépendance (from dependre; see depend) and from Medieval Latin dependentia. Originally also dependance (which is the older of the two modern spellings), depending whether the writer had French or Latin foremost in mind; the Latin form gradually predominated, and after c. 1800 the spelling dependance is rare. For discussion, see dependant (n.).

From mid-15c. as "state of deriving existence, support, or direction from another." From 1620s as "reliance, confidence, trust." Literal meaning "fact of hanging from something" (1690s) was rare and is obsolete.

pend

*(s)pen-

de-

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pend

c. 1500, "to depend, to hang," from French pendre, from Latin pendere "to hang, cause to hang" (from PIE root *(s)pen- "to draw, stretch, spin"). In some cases short for depend, but this often was 'pend, aware of its origin. Middle English also had penden "pertain (to), belong,"

count

late 14c., "to enumerate, assign numerals to successively and in order; repeat the numerals in order," also "to reckon among, include," from Old French conter "to count, add up," also "tell a story," from Latin computare "to count, sum up, reckon together," from com "with, togeth

bet

1590s, "pledge as a forfeit to another who makes a similar pledge in return," originally in the argot of petty criminals, a word of unknown origin; see bet (n.), which appeared about the same time. The intransitive sense of "lay a wager" is from c. 1600. It has been used since mi

luminescence

He proposes the general name luminescence for evolutions of light which do not depend on the temperature of the substance...

rigidity

Rigidity is directly opposed to flexibility, and only indirectly to malleability and ductility, which depend chiefly on relations...

sitcom

of situation comedy, a phrase attested from 1952 in reference to television shows, earlier (1943) of radio programs that depend...

recollect

In form and origin identical with re-collect, but the pronunciation and sense depend upon the noun recollection....

calculate

1560s, "ascertain by computation, estimate by mathematical means," from Latin calculatus, past participle of calculare "to reckon, compute," from calculus (see calculus). It replaced earlier calculen (mid-14c.), from Old French calculer. The meaning "to plan, devise" is attested

rely

mid-14c., relien, "to gather, assemble" an army, followers, a host, etc. (transitive and intransitive), from Old French relier "assemble, put together; fasten, fasten again, attach, rally, oblige," from Latin religare "fasten, bind fast," from re-, here perhaps an intensive prefi

lyre

harp-like instrument, c. 1200, from Old French lire "lyre" (12c.), from Latin lyra, from Greek lyra, a foreign loan-word of uncertain origin. The thing itself is said to be Egyptian, though it became the national musical instrument of ancient Greece. In 18c.-19c. especially the s

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updated on July 25, 2018

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