In·de·pen·dence ( n d-p n d ns) A city of western Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. A starting point for the Santa Fe and Oregon trails during the 19th century, it was the home of President Harry S. Truman. His gravesite and presidential library are here. Population: 109,000. |
| in·de·pen·dence (nd-pndns) n. 1. The state or quality of being independent. 2. Archaic Sufficient income for comfortable self-support; a competence. |
independence [ˌɪndɪˈpɛndəns]
Independence [ˌɪndɪˈpɛndəns]
in•de•pend•ence (ˌɪn dɪˈpɛn dəns)
n.
n.
Independence
(See also SELF-RELIANCE.)
independent as a hog on ice Cockily self-assured; pigheadedly independent.
He don’t appear to care nothing for nobody—he’s “independent as a hog on ice.” (San Francisco Call, April, 1857)
It has been unconvincingly conjectured that this American expression, popular since the 1800s, derives from the Scottish ice game of curling in which hog refers to a pucklike stone that stops short of its goal, thus coming to rest and sitting sluggishly immovable on the ice.
But no other proffered explanation appears plausible either. The puzzling simile nevertheless continues on in popular usage.
They like to think of themselves as independents—independent as a hog on ice. (Time, August, 1948)
lone wolf A loner; one who, although leading an active social life, chooses not to divulge his personal philosophies; a person who pursues neither close friendship nor intimate relationships. Although most wolves live in small packs, some choose to live and hunt solitarily. The expression’s contemporary usage often carries an implication of aloofness to or disillusionment with the mainstream of society.
An individualist to be watched unless he should develop into too much of a lone wolf. (G. F. Newman, Sir, You Bastard, 1970)
march to the beat of a different drummer To follow the dictates of one’s own conscience instead of prevailing convention; to act in accord with one’s own feelings instead of following the crowd; also, to be odd or eccentric. This expression comes from these now famous words of Henry David Thoreau in Walden, or Life in the Woods (1854):
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
If one man in a marching column is out of step, it may look as if he is marching to the beat of another drummer, or as if he is simply “out of it.” Such a one is considered either an independent or an eccentric.
maverick An intractable or refractory person; a person who adheres to unconventional or unpopular ideals that set him apart from society’s mainstream; a dissenter, a loner. This expression is credited to the early 19th-century Texas rancher Samuel Maverick, who consistently neglected to brand his cattle, and it still maintains its meaning of an unbranded cow, steer, or calf. Through allusion to these unmarked cattle, maverick evolved its now more common nonconformist sense by the late 1800s:
A very muzzy Maverick smote his sergeant on the nose. (Rudyard Kipling, Life’s Handicaps, 1892)
In the United States the expression has developed the additional meaning of a politician who resists affiliation with the established political parties, or whose views differ significantly from those of his fellow party members.
One Republican Senator, and by no means a conspicuous maverick, pointed out that the Senate might nave acted. (Chicago Daily News, 1948)
mugwump A politically independent person; a person who is indecisive or neutral on controversial issues. This expression is derived from the Algon-quian Indian word mogkiomp ‘great man, big chief,’ and was first used by Charles A. Dana of the New York Sun in reference to the Republicans who declined to support their party’s 1884 presidential candidate, James G. Baine. The term thus evolved its current figurative sense of a political maverick.
A few moments after Secretary Wallace made his pun, he hastened to add that he himself had been a mugwump. (Tuscaloosa News, March, 1946)
A jocular origin is ascribed to the word: a mugwump is one who sits on the fence, with his mug on one side and his wump on the other. In addition to its political sense, the British use mugwump to describe a self-important person who assumes airs and behaves in an aloof or pompous manner.
sail against the wind To think or act independently of popular or accepted convention, opinion, trends, etc.; to march to the beat of a different drummer. This expression refers to the difficulty of sailing into a wind in order to reach one’s destination. Although sail against the wind is sometimes applied figuratively to a person who is inflexible and stubborn, it more often refers to one who does not succumb to peer or social pressure, but rather pursues his own course irrespective of the opinions and customs of others.
| Noun | 1. |  independence - freedom from control or influence of another or othersfreedom - the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints separateness - political independence; "seeking complete political separateness for Taiwan" |
| 2. | independence - the successful ending of the American Revolution; "they maintained close relations with England even after independence" | |
| 3. | Independence - a city in western Missouri; the beginning of the Santa Fe Trail Missouri, Show Me State, MO - a midwestern state in central United States; a border state during the American Civil War, Missouri was admitted to the Confederacy without actually seceding from the Union |
independence
freedom dependence, bondage, subordination, subjugation, subservience, subjection
"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude after our own; but the great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude" [Ralph Waldo Emerson `Self-Reliance']
"He travels the fastest who travels alone" [Rudyard Kipling The Story of the Gadsbys]
war of independence → guerra f de independencia
Zaire gained or won independence in 1960 → Zaire obtuvo la independencia or se independizó en 1960
to declare independence → déclarer son indépendance
to declare independence from → s'affranchir de
to lose one's independence → perdre son indépendance
independence of mind → indépendance d'esprit
Independence Day n (US) → fête
the country gained independence in 1964 → il paese ha conquistato l'indipendenza nel 1964
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