independent Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a neutral or uncommitted person (especially in politics)
    mugwump; fencesitter.
  2. noun a writer or artist who sells services to different employers without a long-term contract with any of them
    freelance; freelancer; free-lance; free lance; self-employed person.
  3. adjective free from external control and constraint
    • an independent mind
    • a series of independent judgments
    • fiercely independent individualism
  4. adjective satellite (of political bodies) not controlled by outside forces
    self-governing; autonomous; sovereign.
    • an autonomous judiciary
    • a sovereign state
  5. adjective (of a clause) capable of standing syntactically alone as a complete sentence
    main.
    • the main (or independent) clause in a complex sentence has at least a subject and a verb
  6. adjective satellite not controlled by a party or interest group

WordNet

In`de*pend"ent adjective
Etymology
Pref. in- not + dependent: cf. F. indépendant.
Definitions
  1. Not dependent; free; not subject to control by others; not relying on others; not subordinate; as, few men are wholly independent.
    A dry, but independent crust. Cowper.
  2. Affording a comfortable livelihood; as, an independent property.
  3. Not subject to bias or influence; not obsequious; self-directing; as, a man of an independent mind.
  4. Expressing or indicating the feeling of independence; free; easy; bold; unconstrained; as, an independent air or manner.
  5. Separate from; exclusive; irrespective.
    That obligation in general, under which we conceive ourselves bound to obey a law, independent of those resources which the law provides for its own enforcement. R. P. Ward.
  6. (Eccl.) Belonging or pertaining to, or holding to the doctrines or methods of, the Independents.
  7. (Math.) Not dependent upon another quantity in respect to value or rate of variation; -- said of quantities or functions.
  8. (U. S. Politics) Not bound by party; exercising a free choice in voting with either or any party. Syn. -- Free; uncontrolled; separate; uncoerced; self-reliant; bold; unconstrained; unrestricted.
In`de*pend"ent noun
Definitions
  1. (Eccl.) One who believes that an organized Christian church is complete in itself, competent to self-government, and independent of all ecclesiastical authority. ✍ In England the name is often applied (commonly in the pl.) to the Congregationalists.
  2. (Politics) One who does not acknowledge an obligation to support a party's candidate under all circumstances; one who exercises liberty in voting.

Webster 1913