Etymograph

English

depend

Depend comes from Latin dependeō ‘to hang down, from or on’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- ‘to stretch’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pend-1‘to stretch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pn̥d-éh₁ye-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pendējō1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pendēō1‘to hang, to be hanging’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpendeō1‘to be suspended, hang’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdependeō1‘to hang down, from or on’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dependre1
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dependen1
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1703depend1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English depend
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1703, The History Of King William The Third. I: “While the Bishops Affair was depending, the King sent…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pend-Wiktionary, English depend‘to stretch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pn̥d-éh₁ye-tiWiktionary, English dependreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pendējōWiktionary, English dependreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pendēōWiktionary, English depend‘to hang, to be hanging’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpendeōWiktionary, English depend‘to be suspended, hang’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdependeōWiktionary, English depend‘to hang down, from or on’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dependreWiktionary, English depend
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dependenWiktionary, English depend
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1703dependWiktionary, English depend. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1703, The History Of King William The Third. I: “While the Bishops Affair was depending, the King sent…”

The story

In this sense, displaced native Old English hangian (‘to hang or depend’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- ‘to stretch’

expensive, spend, span, pound, compensation, expense, pension, compensate, expenditure, penthouse, appendix, perpendicular, pendant, 28 more

through Latin pendeō ‘to be suspended, hang’

5 more

Today it means

verb To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “depend”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- / depend

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