depend
//dɪˈpɛnd//
Forms
- present (v1)
- depend
- past (v2)
- depended
- past participle (v3)
- depended
- present participle
- depending
- 3rd person singular
- depends
Definitions
1.To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition
- We would like to go skiing, but it depends on the amount of snow.
2.To trust; to have confidence; to rely.
- "It's another wedding present, you may depend," Dicky said, "a beastly surprise, I shouldn't wonder."
3.To hang down; to be sustained by being fastened or attached to something above, especially in heraldry, where a badge, decoration, or element is suspended from another part of an achievement of arms.
- He had prepared a sort of collar of leather with many straps depending from it.
- In the centre is an Imperial Crown, from which depend a Harp of gold and the Badge.
- Besides, if you worked up to be a cadet officer, you got to wear a Sam Browne belt, from which depended a nifty saber.
4.To cause to be contingent or dependent on; to set as a necessity.
- There he wilted, obviously depending the disposal of his person and his plight on Bradly, and expecting that to be done at once, too.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1604
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Uncommon
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Uncommon
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Etymology
From Middle English dependen, from Old French dependre and Latin dependeō, from Latin dē- + pendeō (“to hang”).
In this sense, displaced native Old English hangian (“to hang or depend”).