Independence

How to spell independence

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce independence

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does independence mean?

1. nounThe state of being free from the control, support, or influence of others.

Independence in a sentence

• The colony fought for independence from foreign rule.

• Financial independence allowed her to leave the job she disliked.

Where does independence come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin verb pendere, meaning 'to hang' or 'to be suspended', which gave rise to the idea of one thing depending on another, as if hanging from it. Adding the prefix de- ('down from') produced dependere, literally 'to hang down from', the source of 'depend'. The negative prefix in- ('not') was then attached to form the sense of 'not hanging from' or 'not relying on' another, and the abstract noun suffix -ence turned this into a state or quality. English assembled 'independence' in the seventeenth century, modelled on the French independance, to name the condition of being free from outside control or support. The spelling trap lives in the middle: it is -pend- followed by -ence, not -ance, and the buried image of something 'hanging' (pend) can help anchor those letters.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• de- (down/from)
• pend (hang)
• -ence (noun-forming suffix)