dependence: Meaning and Definition of

de•pend•ence

1. the state of relying on or needing someone or something for aid, support, or the like.
2. reliance; confidence; trust: Her complete reliability earned her our dependence.
3. an object of reliance or trust.
4. the state of being conditional or contingent on something, as through a natural or logical sequence: the dependence of an effect upon a cause.
5. the state of being psychologically or physiologically dependent on a drug after a prolonged period of use.
6. subordination or subjection: the dependence of Martinique upon France.