| 释义 |
independent, a. and n.|ɪndɪˈpɛndənt|
Also 7–8 -ant.
[f. in-3 + dependent: cf. F. indépendant (c 1600 in Hatz.-Darm.), It. independente (Florio, 1598).]
Not dependent.
A. adj.
1. a. Not depending upon the authority of another, not in a position of subordination or subjection; not subject to external control or rule; self-governing, autonomous, free.
1611H. Jacob Declar. & Plainer Open. 13 [Each congregation is] an entire and independent body-politic, endued with power immediately under and from Christ. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxix. 172 It is not one independent Common-wealth, but three independent Factions. 1774J. Bryant Mythol. II. 40 Attica..was divided into..independant hamlets. 1776Adam Smith W.N. i. viii. (1869) I. 73 An independent workman, such as a weaver or shoemaker. 1882Mrs. Pitman Mission L. Greece & Pal. 37 In 1829, Greece was acknowledged as an independent state, having its own king and government. 1885J. Martineau Types Eth. Th. II. 10 The theory of an autonomous or independent conscience.
b. Const. of (formerly on, upon, from).
1651Hobbes Govt. & Soc. xv. §18. 258 An opinion, that there is any man endued with a Soveraignty independent from God. 1680Morden Geog. Rect., Brit. Isles (1685) 15 These Islands..were first possessed by divers People, independent one upon the other. 1705Addison Italy 489 The Town of St. Gaul is a little Protestant Republick, wholly independent of the Abbot. 1776(13 June) Amherst Rec. (1884) 70/1 Voted—That should the Honourable Congress, for the safety of the united Colonies in America: Declare them Independant of the Kingdom of Great-Britain; We..solemnly engage with our lives and fortunes to support them in the measure. 1785T. Balguy Disc. 115 It has been said..that the church is independent on the state.
2. (with capital I.) Belonging or adhering to that form of ecclesiastical polity called independency (q.v., sense 2): = congregational 3.
Also applied to that political party in the 17th century of which the Independent churches formed the chief element.
[1611: see 1.] 1642T. Lechford Pl. Dealing or News fr. New Eng. 79 The Congregationall independent government, whereof I have had some experience. 1653W. Dell Tryal Spir. 82 Sydrach Simpson, one of the first Pastors of an Independant Congregation in England. a1654Selden Table-t. (Arb.) 57 Both the Independant man, and the Presbyterian man do equally exclude the Civil Power, though after a different manner. 1660R. Coke Power & Subj. 262 The Army, commanded by Oliver Cromwell, turned out the Rump of the Long Parliament which headed the Independent party. a1674Clarendon Hist. Rebell. viii. §259 The Independent party (for so they were now [1645] contented to be call'd, in opposition to the other which was styled Presbyterian). 1676W. Hubbard Happiness of People 35 Why else doe wee in New England..practise the discipline of them called Independant, or Congregational Churches? 1712Addison Spect. No. 494 ⁋1 A very famous independent minister. 1766Entick London IV. 8 There is an Independent meeting-house. 1831(title) Declaration of the Faith, Order and Discipline of the Congregational or Independent Dissenters. 1872G. H. Curteis Bampton Lect. ii. 40 The Independent system does not concern itself with either Ritual or Doctrine.
3. Not depending on something else for its existence, validity, efficiency, operation, or some other attribute; not contingent on or conditioned by anything else.
a. Const. as in sense 1.
1614Jackson Creed iii. xxix. §6 His faith [is] no otherwise independent of any externall proposall then ours is. 1646H. Lawrence Comm. Angells 73 The will is independent upon all created power, both in its operation and in its being. 1659Pearson Creed (1682) I. 31 A Being of itself and independent from any other. 1692Bentley Boyle Lect. 69 An incorporeal substance independent from matter. 1709Steele Tatler No. 54 ⁋1 Beauty and Merit are Things real, and independent on Taste and Opinion. 1772Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 276 They cannot be considered as independent of one another. 1790Paley Horæ Paul. i. ⁋13 The instances are independent of one another. 1816Playfair Nat. Phil. II. 323 This is quite independent of the figure of the Earth, and would be the same though the Earth were truly spherical. 1885S. Cox Exposit. Ser. i. ix. 107 An argument..wholly independent of the teaching of the Scripture.
b. simply. Not depending upon the existence or action of others, or of each other; existing, acting, conducted, or obtained in a way apart from and unaffected by others, as independent action, independent inquiry, independent investigation, independent conclusion, independent results, independent account, independent record, independent information, independent evidence; independent suspension; also of the agent, as independent investigator, independent observer, independent witness, etc.
1790Paley Horæ Paul. i. ⁋6 No danger of confounding the production with original history, or of mistaking it for an independent authority. Ibid. iv. No. iv, It is the junction of two conclusions, deduced from independent sources. Ibid. v. No. ii, Two records..manifestly independent, that is manifestly written without any participation of intelligence. 1865Earle Two Saxon Chron. Introd. 37 Some of the independent entries of C countenance its Abingdon origin. Ibid. 45 Other independent annals about the same date, e.g. 1031, 1032, 1043, argue the presence of such a source. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. I. vi. 510 Something is proved when two independent narratives agree. 1872Watts Dict. Chem. II. 779 Scheeler's investigation..comprised another independent discovery of oxygen gas. 1879J. A. H. Murray Synopsis Horæ Paul. 10 Here four independent witnesses, none of which give all the facts, confirm and supplement each other. Ibid. 14 Have we any independent information connecting Erastus with Corinth? 1885Tait Prop. Matter iii. §33 Air is made up of separate and independent particles. a1900Mod. An independent inquiry has been instituted by the Local Board of Health. The work is the result of independent research. 1930Engineering 7 Feb. 162/3 A special chapter on independent suspension systems. 1963R. F. Webb Motorist's Dict. 135 Independent suspension, a form of suspension where each wheel is completely independent of the others and no connecting axle beams are used. 1973Country Life 15 Dec. 1581/2 For absolute comfort and stability at very high speeds there is all round independent suspension.
c. Often used adverbially in phr. independent of († independent on, † independent from) = Independently of, apart from, without regard to, irrespective of.
1690Locke Hum. Und. iii. v. §5 Put together in the Mind, independent from any original Patterns in Nature. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. ii. 311 Independent of that attachment which all mankind have ever shown to the places of their birth..there were few countries more worthy to be regretted. a1871Grote Eth. Fragm. i. (1876) 20 We pursue the one and avoid the other quite independent of regard to the feelings of others.
d. Of one of a set of equations, axioms, or quantities in respect of the others: incapable of being expressed in terms of, or of being derived or deduced from, the others; hence applied to a set of axioms, etc., all of which have this property; linearly independent, (of each of a set of equations or quantities) incapable of being expressed as a linear combination of the others, i.e. satisfying no relation of the form a1x1+ a2x2+ {ddd}+ anxn = o (where xi are the quantities and ai arbitrary constants) unless a1 = a2 = {ddd}= an = o.
1740N. Sanderson Elem. Algebra I. ii. 105 If a problem be justly proposed, it ought to have as many independent conditions..as there are unknown quantities to be discovered by them. 1798J. Wood Elem. Algebra (ed. 2) 73 These equations must also be independent, that is, not deducible one from another. 1875Encycl. Brit. I. 541/1 A problem is limited when the conditions furnish just as many independent equations as there are unknown quantities to be determined: if there be fewer, the problem is indeterminate; but if there be more, the problem in general admits of no solution. 1885[see Legendre]. 1902Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. III. 142 Hilbert states..that his body of axioms consists of independent axioms, that is, that no one of the axioms is logically deducible from the remaining axioms. 1931L. J. Rouse College Algebra v. 69 The equations 2x + y = 5 and x - y = 4 cannot be reduced to the same form and are therefore independent. 1941O. Helmer tr. Tarski's Introd. Logic §39. 131 We strive to arrive at an axiom system which does not contain a single superfluous statement..which can be derived from the remaining axioms... An axiom system of this kind is called independent (or a system of mutually independent axioms). 1944A. Church Introd. Math. Logic I. i. 25 An axiom of a logistic system is said to be independent if, in the system whose axioms and rules consist of all axioms and rules of the original system except that one, the suppressed axiom is not a theorem. 1959G. & R. C. James Math. Dict. 107/1 The numbers 3 and π are linearly independent with respect to rational numbers, since a1·3 + a2·π can not be zero if a1 and a2 are rational numbers, not both zero. Since -1·3 + (3/π)π = 0, 3 and π are linearly dependent with respect to real numbers. 1961Powell & Crasemann Quantum Mech. v. 117 Two solutions of Eq. (5–47) (or, more generally, any two functions of x) are linearly independent if the equation C1ψ1 + C2ψ2 = 0 cannot be satisfied identically in x for any choice of the constants C1 and C2 except C1 = C2 = 0. Ibid. 118 To linearly independent solutions, ψ1 and ψ2, are a complete set in the sense that every solution of Eq. (5–47) can be expressed as a linear combination of ψ1 and ψ2. 1965Hughes and Londey Elem. Formal Logic xviii. 132 Since A4 is non-independent, the axiom set for PM could be reduced by one. But no further reduction of this sort is possible; neither A1 nor A2 nor A3 nor A5 is a consequence of the other three under Substitution and Detachment, and these four are therefore said to be independent axioms.
4. Not dependent or having to rely on another for support or supplies.
a. Const. as in sense 1.
1670R. Coke Disc. Trade Pref., While other Creatures live free and Independent from one another, only Man stands in need and help of another. a1788N. Cotton Fables, Bee, Ant & Spar., Who..Are independent of the great, Nor know the wants of pride and state. 1837Lytton E. Maltrav. i. xii, He was thus made independent of his father. 1880Shorthouse J. Inglesant ii. (1883) 18 His father had left him so considerable a fortune that he was independent of any profession.
b. simply. (a) Not dependent on any one else for one's living; (b) not needing to earn one's livelihood; possessing a competency.
1732Law Serious C. x. (ed. 2) 142 He hath chosen to be idle and independant in the world. 1786Burns Ep. Yng. Friend vii, Gather gear by ev'ry wile That's justify'd by Honor..for the glorious privilege Of being independent. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. i. 7 He was really independent, because he had learnt how to support himself either by the labours of his head or of his hands. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre xvii, She [a servant] has saved enough to keep her independent if she liked to leave. 1893Westm. Gaz. 10 Apr. 5/2 A room occupied by an independent elderly gentleman.
transf.1784Cowper Task iv. 409 A dry but independent crust, hard earned And eaten with a sigh.
c. transf. Sufficient to make one independent; constituting a competency.
c1790J. Imison Sch. Art I. 215 The prices..being..out of the reach of any, but such as are possessed of independent fortunes. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxxiv, A gentleman of considerable independent property. 1885Daily News 3 Oct. 4/6 A person of independent means.
5. a. Not depending on others for the formation of opinions or guidance of conduct; not influenced or biased by the opinions of others; thinking or acting, or disposed to think or act, for oneself. (Of persons, their dispositions, etc.)
1735–8Bolingbroke On Parties 9 On this Foundation all the reasonable, independent Whigs and Tories unite. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. 26 June, I believed there was not a more independent and incorruptible member in the house. 1795Burns For a' that iii, The man of independent mind, He looks and laughs at a' that. 1849Cobden Speeches 52 An independent and energetic man who will vote as he pleases. 1852Hawthorne Blithedale Rom. xix, A person capable of taking an independent stand. 1861Geo. Eliot Silas M. i. 10 This would have been an effort of independent thought such as he had never known. 1889Daily News 28 June 5/2 Perhaps the best bon-mot attributed to the late Lord Derby is his definition of an independent politician as ‘a politician who cannot be depended on’.
b. Used in the names of various political or other parties, as Independent Republicans (U.S.: see B. 2 b); Independent Labour Party (abbrev. I.L.P.: see I. III): the title of the political organization founded at Bradford in January 1893 by James Keir Hardie as an offshoot of the Social Democratic Federation, for the support of parliamentary candidates of approved socialistic views; orig. as opp. the Conservative and Liberal parties, later distinct from the Labour Party; also in the names of newspapers, as the Cambridge Independent Press.
c1888Scottish Labour Party Manifesto in M. Beer Hist. Brit. Socialism (1920) II. xv. 300 The formation of a distinct, separate, and Independent Labour Party. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 668/2 Attempts had been made to influence politics directly by means of an Independent Labour Party..which bound itself to support only candidates of sound socialist views. 1922Ibid. XXXII. 507/1 The Labour party..included the Independent Labour party and the Fabian Society and one or two smaller Socialist bodies. 1953D. E. Butler Electoral Syst. in Brit. ii. v. 154 The total of 5 [members of parliament from outside the three major parties] for 1935 is made up of 4 Independent Labour Party members from Glasgow—where a substantial part of the Labour party had split away—and 1 Communist. 1955Times 24 May 14/3 An election manifesto issued last night by the Independent Labour Party reaffirms the party's belief that workers' control ‘is an essential part of Socialism’. 1971Butler & Pinto-Duschinsky Brit. Gen. Election 1970 v. 112 The failure of those other traditional spokesmen of the left, the Independent Labour party and the Socialist Party of Great Britain, was still more complete.
c. Also (with some colouring of 4), Refusing to be under obligation to others; having a self-respect which declines unearned assistance.
Mod. The widow has a hard struggle, but is very independent, and refuses all pecuniary aid. He is too independent to accept as a favour what he cannot earn by his own exertions.
d. Of schools: receiving no grant from the government and not subject to the control of a local authority.
1944Act 7 & 8 Geo. VI c. 31 §70 The Minister shall appoint one of his officers to be Registrar of Independent (i.e. private) Schools. 1957Encycl. Brit. VII. 989/1 The Independent Schools association..; its official publication is the Independent School. 1966Rep. Comm. Inquiry Univ. Oxf. II. 45 Independent schools are subdivided into independent boarding and independent day schools according to whether the majority of pupils were boarders or day pupils.
e. Independent Television (Authority) (abbrev. I.T.A., I.T.V.: see I. III): a corporation, independent of direct government control, engaged in commercial television broadcasting in Great Britain; also, the channel carrying their programmes; renamed in 1972 the Independent Broadcasting Authority (abbrev. I.B.A.: see I. III), and widened to include commercial radio broadcasting.
1954Act 2 & 3 Eliz. II c. 55 §1 There shall be an authority, to be called the Independent Television Authority..whose function shall be to provide, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and for the period of ten years from the passing of this Act, television broadcasting services, additional to those of the British Broadcasting Corporation. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Aug. p. xl/1, This brings sharply into the picture the B.B.C.'s rival, Independent Television. 1959Chambers's Encycl. XI. 349/2 (heading) Independent Television Authority. Ibid., This corporation is controlled by directors appointed by the government and leases facilities to privately financed companies, which draw their revenues from advertisements. 1960B.B.C. Handbk. 165 The Postmaster General issued a broadcasting licence, for television only, at a later stage to the Independent Television Authority, which was set up under the Television Act of 1954. 1971[see I.B.A. s.v. I. III]. 1973Times 13 Dec. 4/5 The Independent Broadcasting Authority will hold meetings today..about advertising which will be lost as a result of the shorter hours of transmission announced yesterday. Ibid. 15 Dec. 2 BBC and independent television agreed last night to spread their closing hours.
6. a. Math. Not depending upon another for its value. independent variable: a quantity whose variation does not depend on that of another.
1852Todhunter Diff. Calc. i. §1 Frequently when we are considering two or more variables it is in our power to fix upon whichever we please as the independent variable. 1873B. Williamson Diff. Calc. (ed. 2) i. §2 [If u, v, w, be functions of x], x is said to be the independent variable, to which any value may be assigned at pleasure; and u, v, w, are called dependent variables, as their values depend on that of x. 1892J. Edwards Diff. Calc. i. §5 An Independent variable is one which may take up any arbitrary value that may be assigned to it.
b. independent float: in Critical Path Analysis, the amount of ‘float’ or leeway in any one activity which can occur without affecting the timing of the whole operation.
1963R. E. McGarrah Production & Logistics Managem. viii. 211 ‘Independent float’ pertains to those non⁓critical activities whose leeway is not affected by the starting or completion time of its preceding or succeeding activities. 1964K. G. Lockyer Introd. Critical Path Analysis v. 48 Independent float, the time by which an activity can expand without affecting any other activity either previous or subsequent. 1967A. Battersby Network Analysis (ed. 2) App. 4. 335 Independent float is so called because it is what remains if all proceeding jobs finish as late as possible and all succeeding jobs begin as early as possible. 1967S. Woodgate in Wills & Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 80 Independent float is the minimum spare time available under any condition, i.e. either early or late. 1968Gloss. Terms Project Network Analysis (B.S.I.) 8 Independent float, earliest date of succeeding event minus latest date of preceding event minus activity duration. (If negative, the independent float is taken as zero.)
7. Comb. independent seconds (watch): see quots.
1837Dickens Pickw. xxviii, A kind, excellent, independent-spirited..man. a1877Knight Dict. Mech. II. 1179/1 Independent seconds-watch, a watch in which the action of the center seconds-hand is independent of the regular going works of the watch... For great nicety in timing, quarter and fifth second watches are now made. 1890Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 143 A certain independent-minded young lady friend. 1962E. Bruton Dict. Clocks & Watches 93 Independent seconds, clock or watch with seconds hand..which jumps from one second to the next, i.e. it is dead beat.
B. n.
1. An adherent of Independency; a member or adherent of an Independent church; a Congregationalist.
Also Hist. a member of the Independent party in the 17th century: see A. 2.
1644(title) Apologetical Narration of the Independents. 1646(29 Aug.) in Hamilton Pap. (Camden) 113 Cheesely says the Independents intend not to demaund the King. 1692Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. Pref., They that we call independents..hold, that no classes or synods have a superiority over any particular church. 1710Steele & Addison Tatler No. 257 ⁋12 Camaronians, Muggletonians, Brownists, Independents, Masonites, Camisars, and the like. 1870Rogers Hist. Gleanings II. 74 In modern times the credit of being the first to advocate the doctrine of toleration must be shared between the Independents and Quakers. 1884Stoughton Relig. Eng. I. 236 The old historic name of Independent began [at the beginning of the 19th century] to be merged in that of Congregationalist.
2. a. A person or thing that is independent (in various senses). nonce-uses.
1675Ogilby Brit. Pref. 2 Roads we have divided into Independants, such as commence actually at London [etc.]. 1742Young Nt. Th. ii. 332 That awful Independent on Tomorrow!.. Whose Yesterdays look backward with a Smile. 1886Daily News 4 June 5/2 There is a school of independents in domestic service, as there is in literature.
b. A person who acts (in politics, art, etc.) independently of any organized party; also, a member of any organized party called Independent (see A. 5 b).
1808Pike Sources Mississ. iii. App. (1810) 50 Twenty thousand auxiliaries from the United States..joined to the independents of the country [Texas]. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. iii. lvi. 379 The Independent Republicans..Independents, or Mugwumps. 1896A. Hillier in Daily News 16 Jan. 6/3 If later painters arrived at more harmonious results..the Independents have still the glory of being the bold hussars of the vanguard, the Jacobins of the revolution in art which has since been accomplished throughout all Europe.
c. A frequent name of a newspaper, as the New York Independent (cf. A. 5 b).
1837Dickens Pickw. xiii, That disgraceful and dastardly journal, the [Eatanswill] Independent. 1855Thackeray Newcomes liv, He endeavoured to be civil to the ‘Newcome Independent’..as well as to the ‘Newcome Sentinel’.
Hence † indeˈpendented ppl. a. Obs. (nonce-wd.), made independent, formed according to Independency. † indeˈpendentish a., having a flavour of Independency.
1653R. Baillie Disswas. Vind. (1655) 44 Presbyterian water, exceedingly weakened with Independentish ingredients. 1659Gauden Tears Ch. 43 The new titles..of bodyed and congregated, associated or independented and new-fangled Churches.
▸ independent assortment n. Genetics the random distribution of chromosomes or genes to the gametes during meiosis, provided the chromosomes or genes are not linked; cf. law of independent assortment n. at law n.1 Additions.
1913T. H. Morgan Heredity & Sex iii. 88 This result works out on the assumption that there is *independent assortment of the original determiners that entered into the combination. 1962R. P. Levine Genetics ix. 115 Gene recombination among the sexually reproducing nucleate organisms can occur as a result of both independent assortment and crossing over. 1993Genetics 134387 A simple monohybrid cross to explore dominance and recessiveness, a dihybrid cross to demonstrate independent assortment, [etc.].
▸ independent contractor n. a person or company providing a service or goods on a contractual basis, and not regarded as the legal responsibility of those with whom the contract is made, or formally accorded employee status.
1857N.Y. Times 19 Dec. 3/4 Tucker was an *independent contractor, and the defendants are not liable for his acts. 1951W. G. Friedmann Law & Social Change in Contemp. Brit. iv. 99 Certain defences, like common employment, have disappeared, and others are becoming steadily more difficult, e.g., non-liability for an independent contractor,.., or the selection of adequate supervisors. 2003Charleston (W. Va.) Gaz. (Nexis) 30 June a4 The strip club owners, however, are ducking their responsibilities by claiming their dancers are independent contractors instead of employees. |