independent

American  

[in-di-pen-duhnt] / ˌɪn dɪˈpɛn dənt /

adjective

1. not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself.

   an independent thinker.

2. not subject to another's authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free.

   an independent businessman.

3. not influenced by the thought or action of others.

   independent research.

4. not dependent; not depending or contingent upon something else for existence, operation, etc.

5. not relying on another or others for aid or support.

6. rejecting others' aid or support; refusing to be under obligation to others.

7. possessing a competency.

   to be financially independent.

8. sufficient to support a person without their having to work.

   an independent income.

9. executed or originating outside a given unit, agency, business, etc.; external.

   an independent inquiry.

10. working for oneself or for a small, privately owned business.

11. expressive of a spirit of independence; self-confident; unconstrained.

    a free and independent citizen.

12. free from party commitments in voting.

    the independent voter.

13. Mathematics.  (of a quantity or function) not depending upon another for its value.

14. Grammar.  capable of standing syntactically as a complete sentence.

    an independent clause.

15. Logic.

    1. (of a set of propositions) having no one proposition deducible from the others.

    2. (of a proposition) belonging to such a set.

16. Statistics.  statistically independent.

17. (initial capital letter)  adhering or relating to Independency.

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noun

1. an independent person or thing.

2. a small, privately owned business.

   The conglomerates are buying up the independents.

3. Politics.  a person who votes for candidates, measures, etc., in accordance with their own judgment and without regard to the endorsement of, or the positions taken by, any party.

4. (initial capital letter)  an adherent of Independency.

5. British.  a Congregationalist.

idioms

1. independent of,  irrespective of; regardless of.

   Independent of monetary considerations, it was a promising position.

independent ¹ British  

/ ˌɪndɪˈpɛndənt /

adjective

1. free from control in action, judgment, etc; autonomous

2. not dependent on anything else for function, validity, etc; separate

   two independent units make up this sofa

3. not reliant on the support, esp financial support, of others

4. capable of acting for oneself or on one's own

   a very independent little girl

5. providing a large unearned sum towards one's support (esp in the phrases independent income, independent means )

6. living on an unearned income

7. maths (of a system of equations) not linearly dependent See also independent variable

8. statistics

   1. (of two or more variables) distributed so that the value taken by one variable will have no effect on that taken by another or others

   2. (of two or more events) such that the probability of all occurring equals the product of their individual probabilities Compare statistical dependence

9. logic

   1. not validly derivable from one another, so that if the propositions are the axioms of some theory none can be dispensed with

   2. not logically related, so that in no case can the truth value of one be inferred from those of the others

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noun

1. an independent person or thing

2. a person who is not affiliated to or who acts independently of a political party

Independent ² British  

/ ˌɪndɪˈpɛndənt /

noun

1. (in England) a member of the Congregational Church

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adjective

1. of or relating to Independency

Other Word Forms

• independently adverb
• nonindependent adjective
• nonindependently adverb
• preindependent adjective
• preindependently adverb
• pseudoindependent adjective
• pseudoindependently adverb
• quasi-independent adjective
• quasi-independently adverb
• superindependent adjective
• superindependently adverb

Etymology

Origin of independent

First recorded in 1605–15; in- ³ + dependent

Example Sentences

The government's independent adviser on antisemitism, Lord Mann, told the Home Affairs Committee he "struggled" with some "inaccurate" details given by the West Midlands force.

From BBC

The U.K.’s budget watchdog failed to protect its assessment of measures to be announced by the government from premature access, but didn’t intentionally make the material public, an independent review concluded Monday.

From The Wall Street Journal

It is independent of the government but works closely with the Treasury.

From BBC

A petition circulated online by activists demanded an independent investigation of the fire that goes beyond construction materials and addresses how Hong Kong is run.

From The Wall Street Journal

He also told the Ukrainian delegation that the aim of peace talks with Russia is to leave Ukraine "sovereign, independent and prosperous".

From BBC

Related Words

• autonomous
• nonpartisan
• self-reliant
• self-sufficient
• separate
• sovereign