# dependence

Pronunciation: say "di-PEN-duhns" /dɪˈpɛndəns/

## Noun

1. The state of relying on another person or thing for support, help, or survival.
   - Simple: The state of needing someone or something else for help or support.
   - _Years of financial dependence on his family left him anxious about living alone._
   - _The region's economic dependence on a single crop made it vulnerable to droughts._
2. An overpowering physical or psychological need, especially for a drug or other chemical substance.
   - Simple: A strong need for something, such as a drug, that is very hard to control.
   - _Long-term use of the sedative led to a physical dependence that made stopping dangerous._
   - _Psychological dependence on gambling can be as hard to break as a chemical one._

## Origin

This word comes from Middle French 'dépendance', and can also be analyzed as 'depend' plus the suffix '-ence'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dependence (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).