What does "independent" mean?

Additional senses

1. 2.Not subject to bias or influence; not obsequious; self-directing; as, a man of an independent mind.
2. 3.Expressing or indicating the feeling of independence; free; easy; bold; unconstrained; as, an independent air or manner.
3. 4.Separate from; exclusive; irrespective. That obligation in general, under which we conceive ourselves bound to obey a law, independent of those resources which the law provides for its own enforcement. R. P. Ward.
4. 5.(Eccl.) Belonging or pertaining to, or holding to the doctrines or methods of, the Independents.
5. 6.(Math.) Not dependent upon another quantity in respect to value or rate of variation; -- said of quantities or functions.
6. 7.(U. S. Politics) Not bound by party; exercising a free choice in voting with either or any party. Independent company (Mil.), one not incorporated in any regiment. -- Independent seconds watch, a stop watch having a second hand driven by a separate set of wheels, springs, etc., for timing to a fraction of a second. -- Independent variable. (Math.) See Dependent variable, under Dependent.
7. 8.(Eccl.) One who believes that an organized Christian church is complete in itself, competent to self-government, and independent of all ecclesiastical authority. Note: In England the name is often applied (commonly in the pl.) to the Congregationalists.
8. 9.(Politics) One who does not acknowledge an obligation to support a party's candidate under all circumstances; one who exercises liberty in voting.