dependency
/dɪˈpɛndənsi/noun
dependency is spelled D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-C-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is dependancy: about 130 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Dependency is a noun meaning “A state of dependence; a refusal to exercise initiative”. The plural of dependency is dependencies.
How many letters and syllables are in dependency?
| Letters | 10: D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-C-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.3 times per million words; the 14,509th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, dependancy, about 130 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell dependency?
Dependency is spelled D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-C-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for dependency in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is dependency?
Dependency appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dependency?
- UK /dɪˈpɛndənsi/
- US /dɪˈpɛndənsi/
- US /dəˈpɛndənsi/
Dependency has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-dependency.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with dependency?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dependency from its last stressed vowel (/ɛndənsi/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of dependency
- dependencies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dependency mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A state of dependence; a refusal to exercise initiative.
Frank's sullen dependency was driving his father nuts.
- 2
Something dependent on, or subordinate to, something else
In the United States' governmental structure, the military is conceived as a dependency under the executive branch.
- 3
The status of being a legal dependent; the relationship between a dependent and their provider.
- 4
A colony, or a territory subject to rule by an external power.
- 5
A dependence on a habit-forming substance such as a drug or alcohol.
- 6
Reliance on the functionality provided by some other, external component.
This library has dependencies on a lot of other libraries. We have to compile all of those other libraries first.
- 7
An external component whose functionality is relied on.
One of this library's dependencies is very finicky. It can be hard to get it to compile on some systems.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dependency in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Abhängigkeit , Kolonie, Schutzgebiet , Dependency |
| Spanish | dependencia |
| French | dépendance |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dependency come from?
From dependent + -cy or dependence + -y or depend + -ency.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).