independent

I. adjective Date: 1611 1. not dependent: as a. (1) not subject to control by others ; self-governing (2) not affiliated with a larger controlling unit <

an independent bookstore

> b. (1) not requiring or relying on something else ; not contingent <

an independent conclusion

> (2) not looking to others for one's opinions or for guidance in conduct (3) not bound by or committed to a political party c. (1) not requiring or relying on others (as for care or livelihood) <

independent of her parents

> (2) being enough to free one from the necessity of working for a living <

a person of independent means

> d. showing a desire for freedom <

an independent manner

> e. (1) not determined by or capable of being deduced or derived from or expressed in terms of members (as axioms or equations) of the set under consideration; especially having linear independence <

an independent set of vectors

> (2) having the property that the joint probability (as of events or samples) or the joint probability density function (as of random variables) equals the product of the probabilities or probability density functions of separate occurrence 2. capitalized of or relating to the Independents 3. a. main 5 <

an independent clause

> b. neither deducible from nor incompatible with another statement <

independent postulates

> Synonyms: see free • independently adverb II. noun Date: 1644 1. capitalized a sectarian of an English religious movement for congregational autonomy originating in the late 16th century, giving rise to Congregationalists, Baptists, and Friends, and forming one of the major political groupings of the period of Cromwell 2. one that is independent; especially often capitalized one that is not bound by or definitively committed to a political party