depend

verb

de·​pend di-ˈpend 

depended; depending; depends

intransitive verb

1

a

: to be determined, based, or contingent (see contingent entry 1 sense 1)

Life depends on water.

Our plans depend on the weather.

the value of Y depends on X

b

—used to say that the answer to a question will be different in different situations

"Are you going to the party?" "I don't know. It depends."

2

: to be pending or undecided

… matters of greatest moment were depending …

—John Milton

3

a

: to place reliance or trust

You can depend on me.

b

: to be dependent especially for financial support

Her family depends on her paycheck.

still depends on his parents

4

: to hang down

A star was depending from his neck.

—Arnold Bennett

Synonyms of depend

• base
• turn
• hinge
• ride

Examples of depend in a Sentence

whether or not we play baseball will depend on how much rain we get

I know I can always depend on you for help when I really need it.

Recent Examples on the Web

The county also said processing times can range from 12 to 18 months from the time a complete application is submitted, depending on the level of California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, review required. — Steve Large, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

The duration of Kyrgios’ ban will depend in part on whether he is found to have deliberately taken the drug, and in part on whether the incident happened before the tournament started. — James Hansen, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026

To that end, Jurin is building its own highly efficient, domain-specific foundation model—much of the frontier capability at a fraction of the compute cost, for customers who cannot, or will not, depend on a model owned in Washington or Beijing. — Jurin Ai Contributor, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026

That would translate to a monthly rent of $1,749, a figure that could be higher or lower depending on a tenant’s income. — Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English dependen "to hang down, be uncertain, await settlement (of a lawsuit), owe existence (to)," borrowed from Anglo-French dependre "to be pending" (also continental Old French, "to be hanging, be contingent on"), from de- de- + pendre "to hang," modeled on Latin dependēre "to hang down, be derived (from), be contingent on" — more at pendent

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing depend

• depend on/upon

Rhymes for depend

• amend
• append
• ascend
• attend
• backend
• befriend
• boyfriend
• commend
• compend
• contend
• defend
• descend

Kids Definition

depend

verb

de·​pend di-ˈpend 

1

: to be determined by or based on

success of the picnic will depend on the weather

2

: trust entry 2 sense 1a, rely

a person you can depend on

3

: to rely for support

children depend on their parents

4

: to hang down

a vine depending from a tree

Etymology

Middle English dependen "to exist or result from some other condition," from early French dependre (same meaning), derived from Latin dependēre "to hang down, hang from," from de- "from, down" and pendēre "to hang" — related to pendulum, perpendicular