direction-dependence
|di-rec-tion-de-pend-ence|
🇺🇸
/dəˈrɛkʃən dɪˈpɛndəns/
🇬🇧
/dɪˈrɛkʃ(ə)n dɪˈpɛnd(ə)ns/
depends on direction
Etymology
'direction-dependence' originates from Modern English, formed by combining the noun 'direction' and the noun 'dependence'; 'direction' itself comes via Old French from Latin 'directio' (from 'dirigere'), where 'di(r)-/dir-' related to 'straight' or 'guide', and 'dependence' comes from Latin 'dependere', where 'de-' + 'pendere' meant 'to hang' (extended to 'rely upon').
'direction' developed from Latin 'directio' through Old French into Middle English and became the modern English 'direction'; 'dependence' comes from Latin 'dependere' via Old French/Anglo-Norman to Middle English 'dependence', and the compound 'direction-dependence' is a modern English formation created by combining these two nouns to describe directional reliance of a property.
Initially, the parts meant 'a guiding/straightness' (direction) and 'to hang/rely upon' (dependence); when combined in modern usage the compound specifically denotes that a quantity or behavior 'relies on' or 'varies with' direction.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a physical or material property that varies according to direction; the quality of being directionally dependent (often contrasted with isotropy).
The composite shows strong direction-dependence in its mechanical strength.
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Noun 2
in mathematics or applied analysis, dependence of a function, operator, or measurement on the direction (orientation) of a vector or coordinate—i.e., results differ when evaluated along different directions.
The function's direction-dependence complicates gradient estimates in that region.
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Last updated: 2025/12/10 16:23