dependency

dependency or sometimes (US) dependancy (dɪˈpɛndənsɪ)

—n , pl -cies
1.	a territory subject to a state on which it does not border
2.	a dependent or subordinate person or thing
3.	psychol overreliance by a person on another person or on a drug, etc
4.	another word for dependence

dependancy or sometimes (US) dependancy

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

dependency

1590s (adj.), 1610s (n.), from dependent (q.v.). Originally also dependancy, on the French model, but the Latinate form gradually pushed this into disuse; see -ance. Meaning "territory subordinate to another nation" is recorded from 1684.

Example sentences

Far more of an threat to students' long-term success is the dependency they can

develop upon people, especially teachers.

Caffeine causes more dependency, has a higher tolerance effect and more

withdrawal effects than marijuana.

Specialists have been warning for years that this growing dependency is a

potential vulnerability.

Government welfare policies enabled a culture of dependency.

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Matching Quote

"... the planters began by stealing the liberty of their slaves, by stealing their labour, by stealing, in fact, all they had; and the natural result was that the slaves stole back all they could. So in the case of women. Reduced to the condition of dependency and with no other avenue for acquirement of success than the one which lies through their mastery or influence over the opposite sex, their natural powers to charm and seduce are, of course, reinforced by astuteness and trickery."

-Tennessee Claflin