Codependent

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Characterizing a relationship in which one person's emotional or psychological well-being is heavily reliant on another's support and stability
2. Denoting a situation where two individuals mutually depend on each other to an unhealthy extent, often hindering personal growth
3. Referring to an interdependent dynamic marked by a lack of individuality, with both parties frequently enabling each other's dysfunctional behaviors

Etymology: "Codependent" is built from the prefix "co-", meaning "together" or "with," attached to "dependent," which comes from Latin "dependere," "to hang down from." So the word is literally a pairing of two dependencies, each leaning on the other. The prefix has a long Latin ancestry. Its form "con-" comes from Latin, where it was a variant of "com-" (also "co-") with the same sense of togetherness, and the same element appears in many English words such as "cooperate" and "coexist." The Proto-Indo-European roots behind it are ancient and shared across many languages, but English simply took the prefix and combined it with a word already in use. The modern sense is quite different from the parts it is made from. "Dependent" describes someone who relies on another for support, while "codependent" describes a relationship in which both people rely on each other in an unhealthy way, often by enabling one another's harmful behavior and losing their own separate identities in the process.