Etymologically
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depend

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɪˈpɛnd/ (UK); /dɪˈpɛnd/, /di-/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English dependen, borrowed from Middle French dependre (“to hang down; be contingent”),[2][3][4] from Vulgar Latin *dēpendere, for Latin dēpendēre (“to hang from, hang down”),[2][5] from de (“from, down”) and pendēre (“to hang”) (see pendant),[3][2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *(s)pen- (“to draw, stretch, spin”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To be conditioned on, result from: 1410 in Barnhart, 1413 in the OED.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

To be uncertain or in suspense is from before 1420,[2] and literally to hang down from about 1450, now chiefly literary.[2][6][7] To rely on someone for support is from about 1500,[6] and to trust or rely on with confidence later developed from it.[3] The phrase it depends is from the 1550s.[3] In the dialect of Nottinghamshire, you may depend your life meant you may rely on it.[8]

Timeline

  • 1410 – to be conditioned on.[2]
  • before 1420 – to be in suspense.[2]
  • c. 1450 – to hang down.[2]
  • c. 1500 – to rely on.[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. (depend on) To be determined by or contingent on.
  2. (depend on) To rely on for support or help.
  3. (depend on) To trust or be sure of.
  4. (literary) To hang down.

Word family

  • dependable
  • dependance
  • dependancy
  • dependant
  • dependence
  • dependency
  • dependent
  • interdepend
  • pendant
  • pending
  • suspend
  • pendulum

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)