reliance

Etymology

rely + -ance

noun

1. The act of relying (on or in someone or something); trust.
   Your reliance on his expertise may be misplaced.
   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
   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
   I put infinite reliance in your tact. 1912, W. Somerset Maugham, Mrs. Dot, London: Heinemann, act 2, page 89
   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. The condition of being reliant or dependent.
   The industry is working to phase out its reliance on fossil fuels.
   […] he contended that habitual reliance on engine power causes a pilot to lose his ability to make a forced landing “deadstick” if necessary. 25 September 1933, “‘Rumbling’ & ‘Goosing’”, in Time
   Poverty in Australia has declined, welfare reliance has stabilised and long-term poverty is becoming rare—but overall economic wellbeing is no longer improving […] 20 July 2016, Roger Wilkins, “Australia’s economic wellbeing is at a standstill as rift between young and old widens”, in The Guardian
3. (dated) Anything on which to rely; ground of trust.
   The boat was a poor reliance.
   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
   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
   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
4. A person or thing which relies on another.