independence

UK/ˌɪn.dɪˈpɛn.dəns/US/ˌɪn.dɪˈpɛn.dəns/

nounB2Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,160 of 15,258leans written

Independence is the winning of self-rule from a foreign power. Declare independence, independence day, the independence movement.

More than half the countries in the world gained it in the twentieth century, most of them after 1945. The date is usually the national holiday. In personal use it means not relying on others, and financial independence means having enough not to need work. Note depend, from the Latin for hanging.

Definitions of independence

1nounindependenceThe winning of self-rule from a foreign power.B2
“India gained independence from Britain in 1947.”

independence is a state of self-rule.

Where it comes from

French independance is in- plus dependance, from Latin dependere, to hang from. Pendant and suspend come from the same hanging.

French
indépendance
English, today
independence

From French indépendance. Analyzable as in- + de- + pend + -ence or in- + dependence.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in History & Eras

Practise this word

independence in the wild

Not all countries mark independence as a national holiday.
List of national independence days
The opposite of independence is the status of a dependent territory or colony.
Independence
Although it was defeated after a week of fighting, the Rising and the British response led to greater popular support for Irish independence.
Irish War of Independence
While the Catholic minority there mostly backed Irish independence, the Protestant majority were mostly unionist/loyalist.
Irish War of Independence
The Congress voted to approve independence by passing the Lee Resolution on July 2 and adopted the Declaration of Independence two days later, on July 4.
Independence Day (United States)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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