independence
- 1The quality or state of not being reliant on, or controlled by, others.
Teenagers often crave independence from their parents as they grow older.
The former colony declared its independence and formed a new government.
UsageUsually from for what you are free of: independence from your parents. Countries gain or declare their independence.
Similarfreedom, autonomy, sovereignty, liberty, self-reliance
Oppositedependence, reliance, subjection
Note
The word comes from French indépendance and usually takes from: independence from your parents, or a country's independence from an empire. Nations gain or declare it. Dickens could already speak of "a competent independence," where self-reliance has become the money that secures it, and that is the comfortable-means sense.
- 2The state of having enough money or property to support a comfortable way of life.
UsageUsually with a and a size word: a modest independence, a comfortable one, unlike plain independence.
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Origin
English took this word from French indépendance. Its parts can be read as in- + dependence or, split further, as in- + de- + pend + -ence.