Meaning & use
independency
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Meanings
noununcountablearchaic
The state of being free from outside control, especially a self-governing country or group.
Grammar: Old-fashioned equivalent of independence; modern writing nearly always prefers independence.
Patterns
- independency of something
The colonists argued for the independency of their province.
The treaty guaranteed the independency of the small state.
Their old pamphlet praised the independency of the city.
nouncountablearchaic
A self-governing country, community, or church that manages its own affairs.
Grammar: Rare and historical; modern writing says independent state.
Patterns
- an independency
The valley remained an independency for two centuries.
Historians describe the island as a loose independency.
Some small independencies survived within the empire.
Word forms
| plural | independencies |
|---|
Common combinations
- political independency
- The leaders sought political independency from the crown.
- claim independency
- The region claimed independency in the old records.
- independency of the church
- The independency of the church was debated in the 1600s.
- declare independency
- The colonies declared independency in the old text.
Synonyms and how they differ
- independence
- Independence is the modern, normal form, and is used in all everyday and formal contexts.
- autonomy
- Autonomy stresses the right to govern oneself, often within a larger state.
- sovereignty
- Sovereignty is the supreme power of a state and is more legal and political.
- self-rule
- Self-rule is a plainer way to name self-government.
Opposites
Word family
- independence noun
- freedom from outside control
- independent adjective
- not controlled by others
- independently adverb
- without help or control from others
Commonly confused: independency or independence?
independency vs independence
Independence is the word to use in modern English; independency is mainly found in older texts and history.
Practice
Which word is the usual modern replacement for independency?
Choose one answer.
Independence is the modern form. Dependency is nearly the opposite, and the others are different words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “independency”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.