dependent

UK: /dɪˈpendənt/ US: /dɪˈpɛndənt/ ,(di pen′dənt)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

de•pend•ent /dɪˈpɛndənt/   adj. 

1. relying on someone or something else for aid or support:
   dependent on her parents until she got a job.
2. [ be + ~ + on + obj] conditioned or determined by something else;
   contingent:
   Our trip is dependent on the weather.
3. Grammar used only in connection with other forms, not in isolation;
   subordinate. In the sentence I walked out when the bell rang, the clause when the bell rang is a dependent clause. Compare independent (def. 8).

n. [countable]

4. a person, such as a child, who depends on someone for aid or support:
   Our children are no longer listed as dependents on our tax forms.

Often, esp. for def. 4, deˈpend•ant.  de•pend•ent•ly, adv. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

de•pend•ent  (di pen′dənt), adj. 

1. relying on someone or something else for aid, support, etc.
2. conditioned or determined by something else;
   contingent:
   Our trip is dependent on the weather.
3. subordinate;
   subject:
   a dependent territory.
4. Grammar not used in isolation;
   used only in connection with other forms. In I walked out when the bell rang, when the bell rang is a dependent clause. Cf. independent (def. 14), main ¹ (def. 4).
5. hanging down;
   pendent.
6. Mathematics
   • (of a variable) having values determined by one or more independent variables.
   • (of an equation) having solutions that are identical to those of another equation or to those of a set of equations.
7. Statistics (of an event or a value) not statistically independent.

n. 

8. a person who depends on or needs someone or something for aid, support, favor, etc.
9. a child, spouse, parent, or certain other relative to whom one contributes all or a major amount of necessary financial support:
   She listed two dependents on her income-tax form.
10. [Archaic.] a subordinate part.

Also, dependant. 

• late Middle English dependaunt. See depend, -ent 1375–1425

de•pend′ent•ly, adv. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

dependent, dependant / dɪˈpɛndənt/ adjective

1. depending on a person or thing for aid, support, life, etc
2. (postpositive; followed by on or upon) influenced or conditioned (by); contingent (on)
3. subordinate; subject
4. hanging down

noun

1. a variant spelling (esp US) of dependant

deˈpendently adverb