Pendent

This article describes the uses of the word pendent as an adjective. For uses of the related word Pendant, which is an noun and which is often mistakenly used in its place, see that article.

Pendent is an adjective that describes the condition of hanging, either literally, or figuratively, as in undecided or incomplete. To be distinguished from the spelling "pendant" which is the noun.

Something pendent may be viewed as any member of a support system (e.g. a section of a dome or, organically, a parent/guardian in a nuclear family). A pendent component of a structure or system requires one or more of the same as itself to be functional. For example, one playing card in a house of cards requires another against it in order to maintain stability. Likewise the segments of certain types of dome rely upon each other for support, as do the individual blocks or timber frames which make up a dome whether segmented or not. The whole dome may in turn be supported by pendentives (which in turn support each other). In the construction of arches and domes, the pendent condition commonly leads to special requirements for timber centring or similar expedients during construction: when the structure is completed it becomes self-supporting and the temporary structure can be removed.