From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Dependence \De*pend"ence\, noun [LL. dependentia, fr. L. dependens. See {Dependent}, and cf. {Dependance}.]
1. The act or state of depending; state of being dependent; a hanging down or from; suspension from a support.
2. The state of being influenced and determined by something; subjection (as of an effect to its cause).
The cause of effects, and the dependence of one thing upon another. --Bp. Burnet.
3. Mutual connection and support; concatenation; systematic inter-relation.
So dark and so intricate of purpose, without any dependence or order. --Sir T. More.
4. Subjection to the direction or disposal of another; inability to help or provide for one's self; a lack of independence or self-sufficiency.
Syn: dependance, dependency. [1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5]
Reduced to a servile dependence on their mercy. --Burke.
5. A resting with confidence; reliance; trust.
Affectionate dependence on the Creator is the spiritual life of the soul. --T. Erskine.
6. That on which one depends or relies; as, he was her sole dependence.
7. That which depends; anything dependent or suspended; anything attached a subordinate to, or contingent on, something else.
Like a large cluster of black grapes they show And make a large dependence from the bough. --Dryden.
8. A matter depending, or in suspense, and still to be determined; ground of controversy or quarrel. [Obs.]
To go on now with my first dependence. --Beau. & Fl.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: lack of independence or self-sufficiency [syn: {dependance}, {dependency}]
2: being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming (especially alcohol or narcotic drugs) [syn: {addiction}, {dependency}, {habituation}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
132 Moby Thesaurus words for "dependence": Maecenas, a habit, abettor, acceptation, acception, acquiescence, acquired tolerance, acute alcoholism, addictedness, addiction, admirer, advocate, aficionado, alcoholism, amphetamine withdrawal symptoms, angel, apologist, aspiration, assumption, assurance, assured faith, assuredness, backer, barbiturate addiction, barbiturism, belief, buff, certainty, chain smoking, champion, cheerful expectation, chronic alcoholism, clientage, clientship, cocainism, confidence, contingency, conviction, correlation, crash, craving, credence, credit, credulity, danglement, dangling, defender, dependency, desire, dipsomania, doomed hope, drug addiction, drug culture, drug dependence, encourager, endorser, expectation, exponent, fair prospect, faith, fan, favorer, fervent hope, friend at court, good cheer, good hope, great expectations, habituation, hanging, high hopes, hope, hopeful prognosis, hopefulness, hopes, hoping, hoping against hope, interrelation, lover, mainstay, maintainer, nicotine addiction, paranymph, partisan, patron, pendency, pendulosity, pendulousness, pensileness, pensility, physical dependence, prayerful hope, presumption, promise, promoter, prospect, prospects, protagonist, psychological dependence, reception, relativity, reliance, reliance on, sanguine expectation, second, seconder, sectary, security, sider, sponsor, stalwart, standby, stock, store, support, supporter, sureness, surety, suspense, suspension, suspension of disbelief, sustainer, sympathizer, tolerance, trust, tutelage, upholder, votary, wardship, well-grounded hope, well-wisher, withdrawal sickness, withdrawal symptoms
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