depend
English
Etymology
Lua error: The template Template:PIE root does not use the parameter(s):2=(s)pendPlease see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.
From Middle English dependen, from Old French dependre and Latin dependeō, from Latin dē- + pendeō (“to hang”).
Pronunciation
Verb
depend (third-person singular simple present depends, present participle depending, simple past and past participle depended)
- (intransitive, followed by on or upon, formerly also by of) To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition; to hinge on.
- We would like to go skiing, but it depends on the amount of snow.
- Lua error in Module:quote at line 2664: Parameter 2 is not used by this template.
- (intransitive, followed by on or upon) To trust; to have confidence; to rely.
- we should all be able to depend on the word or assurance of our friends
- we depend on the mailman to come at the usual time.
- (now literary) To hang down; to be sustained by being fastened or attached to something above.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:
- The long rows of teeth on the bulwarks glistened in the moonlight; and like the white ivory tusks of some huge elephant, vast curving icicles depended from the bows.
- 1982, Paul Fussell, My War:
- Besides, if you worked up to be a cadet officer, you got to wear a Sam Browne belt, from which depended a nifty saber.
- (archaic) To be pending; to be undetermined or undecided.
- a cause depending in court
- 1703, The History Of King William The Third. In III Parts:
- While the Bishops Affair was depending, the King sent orders [...]
- 1836, Reports of Cases Adjudged in the Court of King's Bench:
- In perjury, the capias, warrant, and affidavit, are good evidence that a cause was depending.
- 1837, The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe, page 544:
- "A Letter of the King sent to his Proctors at Rome, concerning a Case of his in the said Court depending."
Related terms
Lua error in Module:languages/errorGetBy at line 16: Please specify a language or family code in the first parameter; the value "(s)pend" is not valid (see Wiktionary:List of languages).
Translations
be contingent or conditioned
|
trust
|
serve
|
hang down
|
be pending
|
References
- “depend”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “depend”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛnd
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English literary terms
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with archaic senses
- English basic words