Re: dependent dependants

[ way off topic, but I can't resist ]

ncm(at)zembu(dot)com (Nathan Myers) writes:
> For the record:
> http://www.lineone.net/dictionaryof/englishusage/d0081889.html

> dependent or dependant

> "Dependent is the adjective, used for a person or thing that depends
> on someone or something: Admission to college is dependent on A-level
> results. Dependant is the noun, and is a person who relies on someone
> for financial support: Do you have any dependants?"

In order of increasing heft, my dictionaries have:

Webster's New Collegiate: no entry for "dependant" at all.

Random House: "dependant" is defined with a one-word entry: "dependent",
for both noun and adjective.

OED: entries for both "dependant" and "dependent", but it says "now
usually spelt [dependent]". Apparently the spellings were once more-
or-less interchangeable.

Not being an eighteenth-century person, to me "dependant" looks just
plain wrong. I'd never spell it that way, for either noun or adjective.

regards, tom lane