What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Dependent vs Operant - What's the difference?

dependent | operant |

As adjectives the difference between dependent and operant

is that dependent is relying upon; depending upon while operant is that operates to produce an effect.

As nouns the difference between dependent and operant

is that dependent is one who relies on another for support while operant is an operative person or thing.

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

    operant

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • That operates to produce an effect.
  • * Shakespeare
  • thy most operant poison
  • * 1955 , edition, ISBN 0553249592, page 117:
  • I tell you frankly, if Paul Aubry is guilty I hope is convicted and punished; but if one of the others is guilty I hope he—or she—is punished, and if I knew anything operant to that end I certainly would not withhold it.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An operative person or thing.
  • (psychology) Any of a class of behaviors that produce consequences by operating (i.e., acting) upon the environment.
  • Derived terms

    * inoperant * operancy * operant conditioning

    Antonyms

    * inoperant

    See also

    * Skinner box

    Anagrams

    * ----