in·de·pend·ent

[in-di-pen-duhnt]
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 his 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. Compare dependent ( def 4 ), main1 ( def 4 ).
15.
Logic.
a.
(of a set of propositions) having no one proposition deducible from the others.
b.
(of a proposition) belonging to such a set.
17.
( initial capital letter ) Ecclesiastical. of or pertaining to the Independents.
noun
18.
an independent person or thing.
19.
a small, privately owned business: The conglomerates are buying up the independents.
20.
Politics. a person who votes for candidates, measures, etc., in accordance with his or her own judgment and without regard to the endorsement of, or the positions taken by, any party.
21.
( initial capital letter ) Ecclesiastical. an adherent of Independency.
22.
British. a Congregationalist.
00:10
Independent is always a great word to know.
So is rule of three. Does it mean:
a set of elements capable of being completely counted and not zero
the method of finding the fourth term in a proportion when three terms are given
23.
independent of, irrespective of; regardless of: Independent of monetary considerations, it was a promising position.

Origin:
1605–15; in-3 + dependent

in·de·pend·ent·ly, adverb
non·in·de·pend·ent, adjective
non·in·de·pend·ent·ly, adverb
pre·in·de·pend·ent, adjective
pre·in·de·pend·ent·ly, adverb
pseu·do·in·de·pend·ent, adjective
pseu·do·in·de·pend·ent·ly, adverb
qua·si-in·de·pend·ent, adjective
qua·si-in·de·pend·ent·ly, adverb
su·per·in·de·pend·ent, adjective
su·per·in·de·pend·ent·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To independent
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World English Dictionary
independent (ˌɪndɪˈpɛndənt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
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 See also independent variable (of a system of equations) not linearly dependent
8.  statistics
 a.  (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
 b.  Compare statistical dependence (of two or more events) such that the probability of all occurring equals the product of their individual probabilities
9.  of a set of propositions logic
 a.  not validly derivable from one another, so that if the propositions are the axioms of some theory none can be dispensed with
 b.  not logically related, so that in no case can the truth value of one be inferred from those of the others
 
n
10.  an independent person or thing
11.  a person who is not affiliated to or who acts independently of a political party
 
inde'pendently
 
adv

Independent (ˌɪndɪˈpɛndənt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  (in England) a member of the Congregational Church
 
adj
2.  of or relating to Independency

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

independent
1610s, from in- "not" + dependent (q.v.). Fr. independant is attested from c.1600; It. independente from 1590s. Noun meaning "person not acting as part of a political party" is from 1808.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Other efforts seek to turn independent politicians-often seen as cranks and
  amateurs-into effective candidates.
Today an increasing number of colleges have formed partnerships with
  independent providers.
Which is not unusual for a big production movie but it is unusual for an
  independent movie of this size.
Most of the people you would call operate independent of the government and
  wouldn't even listen to you.
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