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automate

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Etymology and origin of the English word automate

Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1954 New York Times
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek αὐτόματος

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɔːtəmeɪt/[1]
  • US: /ˈɔ.təˌmeɪt/, /ˈɔ.toʊˌmeɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from automation,[2][3][4][5][6] and according to the OED and Etymonline also from automated.[7][8] Automation was formed from the stem of automatic and automaton with the suffix -ion;[7][8] in its manufacturing sense its coinage is usually credited to Delmar S. Harder of the Ford Motor Company (1948).[7][8] Automaton goes back, through Latin, to Ancient Greek αὐτόματος (autómatos, “acting of itself”).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To convert a process or facility to automatic operation: 1954, in a headline in the New York Times.[7][8] Merriam-Webster dates the verb to 1952,[3] the year of the first record of the adjective automated, in American English.[8][7]

Semantic evolution

The verb followed the adjective automated (1952) and the noun automation (1948) within a few years.[8][7] By 1955 it was also used intransitively, of changing over to automatic equipment or introducing automation.[7][4] It is often met in the participle automated.[4] Earlier verbs of similar meaning were automatize and automize.[7]

Timeline

  • 1954 – transitive, to convert to automatic operation.[7][8]
  • 1955 – intransitive, to install automatic equipment.[7][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To convert a process, system or factory to automatic or largely automatic operation: The bakery automated its packing line last year.[3][9][7]
  2. To introduce automation; to change over to automatic equipment.[7][4]

Word family

  • automatable

Usage notes

An unrelated earlier automate, a noun meaning an automaton, borrowed from French automate, was used from before 1649 to the 18th century, and an adjective automate, automatic, appears in the early 19th century; both are now obsolete.[7][4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Automate.” Etymologically, 2 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/automate. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·