n.; pl. Dependencies 1. State of being dependent; dependence; state of being subordinate; subordination; concatenation; connection; reliance; trust. [ 1913 Webster ] Any long series of action, the parts of which have very much dependency each on the other. Sir J. Reynolds. [ 1913 Webster ] So that they may acknowledge their dependency on the crown of England. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. A thing hanging down; a dependence. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. That which is attached to something else as its consequence, subordinate, satellite, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ] This earth and its dependencies. T. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ] Modes I call such complex ideas which . . . are considered as dependencies on or affections of substances. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. A territory remote from the kingdom or state to which it belongs, but subject to its dominion; a colony; as, Great Britain has its dependencies in Asia, Africa, and America. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ Dependence is more used in the abstract, and dependency in the concrete. The latter is usually restricted in meaning to 3 and 4. [ 1913 Webster ] |