English
dependent
Dependent comes from Middle French dependant.
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dependant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dependaunt
- Englishearliest quotation 1994dependent
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dependant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dependaunt
- Englishearliest quotation 1994dependent
Earliest quotation: 1994, Kathryn Stout, Maximum Math: “The formula for finding the probability of one event…”
Equivalent to depend + -ent
Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- ‘to stretch’
…
Latin pendeō ‘to be suspended, hang’
Latin dependeō ‘to hang down, from or on’
Old French dependre
Middle English dependen
English depend
Every English word from Middle French dependant
Today it means
adj Relying upon; depending upon.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle French dependant / dependent