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Dependent vs Dependency - What's the difference?

dependent | dependency |

As nouns the difference between dependent and dependency

is that dependent is one who relies on another for support while dependency is a state of dependence; a refusal to exercise initiative.

As an adjective dependent

is relying upon; depending upon.

dependent

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Relying upon; depending upon.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Joseph Stiglitz)
    • , volume=188, issue=26, page=19, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Globalisation is about taxes too , passage=It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. […] It is the starving of the public sector which has been pivotal in America no longer being the land of opportunity – with a child's life prospects more dependent on the income and education of its parents than in other advanced countries.}}
  • Used in questions, negative sentences and after certain particles and prepositions.
  • (medicine) Affecting the lower part of the body, such as the legs while standing up, or the back while supine.
  • Hanging down.

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (US) One who relies on another for support
    • With two children and an ailing mother, she had three dependents in all ... (In British English, this meaning is spelt dependant.)
  • (grammar) An element in phrase or clause structure that is not the head. Includes complements, modifiers and determiners.
  • (grammar) The aorist subjunctive or subjunctive perfective: a form of a verb not used independently but preceded by a particle to form the negative or a tense form. Found in Greek and in the Gaelic languages.

    • Synonyms

    * dependant

    Related terms

    * dependee * depender

    Related terms

    * depend * dependent clause * dependent variable * depending * independent * co-dependent ----

    dependency

    English

    Noun

    (dependencies)
  • A state of dependence; a refusal to exercise initiative.
    • Frank's sullen dependency was driving his father nuts.
  • Something dependent on, or subordinate to, something else:
    • In the United States' governmental structure, the military is conceived as a dependency under the executive branch.
  • A colony, or a territory subject to rule by an external power.
  • A dependence on a habit-forming substance such as a drug or alcohol; addiction.
  • (computing) Reliance on the functionality provided by some other, external component.
    • This library has a lot of dependencies . We have to compile all of those other libraries first.

    Related terms

    * dependee, depender