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independent

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌɪn.dɪˈpen.dənt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English in- + dependent,[2][3][4] probably influenced by Italian independente, found in Florio's dictionary (1611), and perhaps by French indépendant.[3][5][2] The French word is attested from about 1600 and the Italian from the 1590s.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Not depending on the authority of another”: 1611,[6][3][4] or the 1610s;[2] in English it was first used of churches and nations.[2]

Semantic evolution

In reference to persons it is used from the 1660s.[2] As a noun, an Independent was a member of an English congregational church, from 1644 or the 1640s,[4][2] and the adjective in this sense is also from 1611.[6] One who acts according to his own will is from the 1670s.[2] “Able to live well without working”, as in a man of independent means, is from 1732,[2] and dialects used independent for “rich, in easy circumstances”.[7] “Not influenced by others, unbiased” is from 1790,[2] and a person not belonging to a political party from 1808.[2] Independence is from 1640, partly perhaps from French indépendance.[3]

Timeline

  • 1611 – not depending on another's authority.[6][3]
  • 1640 – independence.[3]
  • 1644 – noun, a Congregationalist.[4]
  • 1660s – of persons.[2]
  • 1732 – able to live without working.[2]
  • 1790 – unbiased.[2]
  • 1808 – noun, not of a party.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Not ruled by another country; self-governing.
  2. Free from the control or influence of others; self-reliant.
  3. Not depending on something else; separate: two independent studies.
  4. Not belonging to a political party.
  5. Having enough money to live without working.
  6. (grammar) Of a clause: able to stand alone as a sentence.

Noun

  1. A person, especially a voter or politician, who belongs to no party.
  2. Independent: A member of a 17th-century English movement for the independence of each congregation; a Congregationalist.

Word family

  • independently
  • pseudoindependent
  • semi-independent
  • quasi-independent
  • nonindependent
  • independency
  • independent variable
  • Commonwealth of Independent States
  • depend
  • dependence
  • independence
  • pendant
  • pending
  • dependent
  • pendulum

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)