independent

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Not governed by a foreign power; self-governing.
2. adj. Free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self-reliant: an independent mind.
3. adj. Not determined or influenced by someone or something else; not contingent: a decision independent of the outcome of the study.
4. adj. Affiliated with or loyal to no one political party or organization.
5. adj. Not dependent on or affiliated with a larger or controlling entity: an independent food store; an independent film.
6. adj. Not relying on others for support, care, or funds; self-supporting.
7. adj. Providing or being sufficient income to enable one to live without working: a person of independent means.
8. adj. Mathematics Not dependent on other variables.
9. adj. Mathematics Of or relating to a system of equations no one of which can be derived from another equation in the system.
10. adj. Of or relating to the 17th-century English Independents.
11. n. One that is independent, especially a voter, officeholder, or political candidate who is not committed to a political party.
12. n. A member of a movement in England in the 17th century advocating the political and religious independence of individual congregations.
13. n. Chiefly British A Congregationalist.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Not dependent; not requiring the support or not subject to the control or controlling influence of others; not relying on others for direction or guidance; not subordinate; of things, not standing in a relation of dependence to something else: used absolutely or followed by of, formerly sometimes by on: as, a person's fortunes in life are quite independent of the configuration of the planets at his nativity.
2. Not due to or connected with dependence; pertaining to or permitting freedom of action; free of control or restraint: as, an independent income, estate, or position; independent action.
3. Not subject to bias or influence; self-directing.
4. Proceeding from or expressive of a spirit of independence; free; easy; self-confident; bold; unconstrained: as, an independent air or manner.
5. Irrespective; exclusive; without taking note or notice: followed by of.
6. [capitalized] Of or pertaining to the Independents or Congregationalists; belonging to the Independents.
7. In mathematics, not depending upon another for its value: said of a quantity or function.
8. Having a competency; able to live well without labor; well-to-do.
9. n. One who acts with independence; one who acts in accordance with his own will, judgment, or conscience.
10. n. [capitalized] Eccles., one who maintains the principles of independency, or the freedom of the local church from external control; specifically, in England, a name given to a Congregationalist. The Independents of England differ from the Congregationalists of the United States in laying less stress upon and making less provision for the fellowship of the local churches. The name Congregationalists is assumed by both the English and American bodies; the use of the name Independent as a denominational title is almost exclusively confined to Great Britain. The English Independents attained great political power at the time of the Long Parliament and the Commonwealth.
11. n. [cap. or lowercase] In politics: One who acts independently of any organized party; one who opposes or supports measures or men on independent grounds.
12. n. One of an organized party assuming the name “Independent”; specifically, in United States politics, a member of the party otherwise called the Greenback party.

Wiktionary

1. adj. not dependent; not contingent or depending on something else; free.
2. adj. politics not affiliated with any political party
3. n. A candidate or voter not affiliated with any political party, a free thinker, free of a party platform.
4. n. A neutral or uncommitted person.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. Not dependent; free; not subject to control by others; not relying on others; not subordinate.
2. adj. Affording a comfortable livelihood.
3. adj. Not subject to bias or influence; not obsequious; self-directing.
4. adj. Expressing or indicating the feeling of independence; free; easy; bold; unconstrained.
5. adj. Separate from; exclusive; irrespective.
6. adj. (Eccl.) Belonging or pertaining to, or holding to the doctrines or methods of, the Independents.
7. adj. (Math.) Not dependent upon another quantity in respect to value or rate of variation; -- said of quantities or functions.
8. adj. (U. S. Politics) Not bound by party; exercising a free choice in voting with either or any party.
9. n. (Eccl.) One who believes that an organized Christian church is complete in itself, competent to self-government, and independent of all ecclesiastical authority.
10. n. (Politics) One who does not acknowledge an obligation to support a party's candidate under all circumstances; one who exercises liberty in voting.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a neutral or uncommitted person (especially in politics)
2. adj. (of a clause) capable of standing syntactically alone as a complete sentence
3. adj. free from external control and constraint
4. adj. (of political bodies) not controlled by outside forces
5. n. a writer or artist who sells services to different employers without a long-term contract with any of them
6. adj. not controlled by a party or interest group