According to etymology theory, each word in a language originates from a root word in that language or its mother language. Quite often, the excessive reliance on this theory of roots leads to similar sounding words in the closely related languages that are unrelated to the word being examined. Sometimes, it may lead to funny results, e.g. the etymology of husband from Norse word hūsbōndi, i.e. house--bound. I have shown in another blog-post that ‘husband’ is a misspelt Sanskrit word ‘saha.bandh’सहबंध, i.e. co-bound. Let’s take the case of the word 'independence'. Its origin is said to be as follows:
Latin word pendere (to hang) > de+pendere = dependere (to hang from, to hang down) > French word dependre > 15th century English word 'depend' (to be attached to as a condition or cause, as a figurative use) > dependent > in + dependent = independent > independence. 'To depend' implies a sense of voluntary dependence. Therefore, this interpretation of the word 'independence' may be perfectly fine in the sense of 'not being influenced by the thought or action of others', but it fails to convey the sense of freedom from bondage or subjugation of another person or country. To be sure, what we celebrate on the Independence Day is not the end of dependence on foreign powers but the end of our bondage from them. Therefore, the traditional etymology of the word independence is un-acceptable. Let’s examine the Sanskrit words for ‘end of bondage’ and its relation with the word ‘independence’. The Sanskrit word bandham बंधम (bind) and the Latin word bandum is the same word with slight phonetic change. It gave rise to words like bind, bond, band and belt. This fact is acknowledged by European linguists. Therefore, I believe that the etymology of ‘independence’ should have been sought from Latin bandum instead of Latin pandere (to hang).
The Sanskrit words for bonded/ bound are bandi बंदी / bandhit बंधित / bandhanit बंधनित; and the Sanskrit word for end is ‘anta’ अंत. Joining the two Sanskrit words: anta अंत + bandhanit बंधनित = antabandhanit अंतबंधनित (end of one’s bondage). Sanskrit ‘antabandhanit’ changes to English ‘independent after phonetic mutations a>i, t> d, b>p; a>e, dh>d (all permissible mutations defined in the ‘Table of Permissible Mutations’ in aprevious blog post).
I hope that you convinced about the Sanskrit DNA of the words independent and independence?