Also the state or quality of being independent.
freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others.
Archaic. a competency.
a city in W Missouri: starting point of the Santa Fe and Oregon trails.
a town in SE Kansas.
See freedom.
Beginning of the Santa Fe Trail, used by settlers moving west.
First recorded in 1630–40; independ(ent) + -ence
Independence is the state of being free of the control of some other person, country or entity. Revolutions are all about obtaining independence, most famously perhaps the Revolutionary War in America, which led to America's freedom from Britain. Independence comes from a nice medieval French word, depenre, meaning "to hang from," or "to hang down." The in at the beginning is Latin for "not," so the word originally meant "not hanging from," which is a neat description of what countries achieve by throwing off their colonizers. Teenagers also commonly seek independence from their parents — but perhaps not financial independence.
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Bosnia, playing in the World Cup for the second time since gaining independence, is led by 40-year-old Edin Dzeko, the country’s all-time leader in caps and goals.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
Up until this point, my son had been an authorized user on one of my cards, but after turning 20 he wanted more independence.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
Sanchez has promised wage increases and sought to reassure investors by pledging to maintain an open economy and central bank independence, key to economic stability.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
Other research is exploring whether multivitamins may affect markers of biological ageing, but it remains unclear whether this translates into better health, independence or lifespan.
From Science Daily • Jun. 6, 2026
Third, when Washington talked about independence from foreign nations, his understanding of what American independence entailed cut much deeper than the patriotic veneer customarily suggested by the term.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
