Dictionary

reliance en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (UK) audio
• /ɹɪˈlaɪ.əns/

Etymology

Etymology tree English rely Proto-Indo-European *-onts Latin -ns Latin -āns Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin -āntia Old French -ancebor. Middle English -aunce English -ance English reliance From rely + -ance.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The act of relying (on or in someone or something); trust.
   • How unfavourable is Chance, said Arabella fretting at the Disappointment, to Persons who have any Reliance upon it! 1752, Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote, London: A. Millar, Volume 2, Book 9, Chapter 9, p. 288:
   • […] his days and times are past And my reliances on his fracted [i.e. broken] dates Have smit my credit: c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
   • I put infinite reliance in your tact. 1912, W. Somerset Maugham, Mrs. Dot, London: Heinemann, act 2, page 89:
   • It was out of his power to support his son at either university; but a wealthy neighbor offered assistance; and, in reliance on promises which proved to be of very little value, Samuel was entered at Pembroke College, Oxford. 1867, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”, in Biographical and Historical Sketches, New York: Appleton, page 54:
   • Your reliance on his expertise may be misplaced.
   • Hornblower could see in a flash that he could place implicit reliance on Bush’s seamanship. 1962, C. S. Forester, chapter 3, in Hornblower and the Hotspur, London: Michael, Joseph:
2. (countable, uncountable) The condition of being reliant or dependent.
   • The industry is working to phase out its reliance on fossil fuels.
   • Poverty in Australia has declined, welfare reliance has stabilised and long-term poverty is becoming rare—but overall economic wellbeing is no longer improving […] 2016 July 20, Roger Wilkins, “Australia’s economic wellbeing is at a standstill as rift between young and old widens”, in The Guardian:
   • […] he contended that habitual reliance on engine power causes a pilot to lose his ability to make a forced landing “deadstick” if necessary. 1933 September 25, “‘Rumbling’ & ‘Goosing’”, in Time:
3. (countable, dated, uncountable) Anything on which to rely; ground of trust.
   • A horse is counted but a vain thing, […] to save a man. So are Chariots, and Forts, and Armies, and Navies, and all earthly reliances. 1656, Robertson Sanderson, Twenty Sermons, London: Henry Seile, Sermon 14, p. 280:
   • The boat was a poor reliance.
   • Mr. Adams may marry as well as Mr. Williams; and both, I believe, will find God’s Providence a better Reliance, than the richest Benefice in England. 1741, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXII”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […]; and J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 286:
   • Most ominous of all was the discovery of over six hundred empty cans that had held preserved meat, the main reliance of the expedition. 1914, Stephen Leacock, chapter 5, in Adventurers of the Far North, Toronto: Glasgow, Brook, page 123:
   • Thou wert once the chiefe pillar of my posterity, and the whole reliance of my name: 1593, Thomas Nashe, Christs Teares ouer Ierusalem, London: Thomas Thorp, published 1613, page 69:
4. (countable, uncountable) A person or thing which relies on another.

Forms

Deriveds

nonreliance · underreliance · engendered reliance · misreliance · over-reliance · overreliance · reliance interest · unreliance · self-reliance

Translations (36)

hy վստահություն (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · de Abhängige (A person or thing which relies on another) · hi निर्भरता (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · fr confiance (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · it fiducia (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · es dependencia (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · bg разчитане на (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · it confidenza (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · ba ышаныс (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · el εμπιστοσύνη (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · sk spoliehanie sa (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · pt confiança (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · de Verlass (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · fi riippuvaisuus (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · pl bluszczowość (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · de Vertrauen (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · es confianza (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · pl poleganie (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · pt dependência (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · de Vertrauende (A person or thing which relies on another) · pl bluszczowatość (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · nb avhengighet (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · hi निर्भरता (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · sk závislosť (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · sk dôvera (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · it dipendenza (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · bg упование (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · it affidamento (A person or thing which relies on another) · pl zaufanie (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · es dependiente (A person or thing which relies on another) · bg доверие (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · nb avhengighet (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · fi turvautuminen (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · de Abhängigkeit (The condition of being reliant or dependent) · ru дове́рие (The act of relying on someone or something; trust) · fr dépendance (The condition of being reliant or dependent)