rely
- 1To trust in or depend on someone or something for support, help, or what is needed.
Like a bridge resting on its pillars: it stays up only because the support beneath holds firm.
Small businesses rely on word of mouth to attract new customers.
She has always relied on her older sister for honest advice.
Similardepend, count, lean, bank
Note
A verb whose history is a binding: Middle English relien came through Old French relier, "fasten, attach," from Latin religo, "bind fast." To rely on something is, at root, to be tied to it. It never takes a direct object. It always needs a preposition, on or upon, and older English also allowed in. Degree words slip in before the preposition: rely heavily on, rely as heavily as ever on.
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Origin
This word comes from Middle English relien, from Old French relier ("fasten, attach, rally, oblige"), which came from Latin religo ("fasten, bind fast"), formed from re- plus ligo.