automatic

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˌɔː.təˈmæt.ɪk/, US /ˌɑː.t̬əˈmæt̬.ɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It was formed in English, from Ancient Greek αὐτόματος (autómatos, “acting of one's own will, self-acting”) and -ic (see automaton),^[2][3][4] from αὐτός (autós, “self”) and -matos “thinking, animated”,^[3] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”).^[3] In Greek autómatos was used of the self-opening gates of Olympus and of Hephaestus's tripods.^[3] The earlier forms were automatical (1580s) and automatous (1640s).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of bodily actions, involuntary, like the motions of an automaton: 1748, first used by the physician and philosopher David Hartley, according to Etymonline.^[5][2][3] The AHD notes that it was first applied to motions such as those of the intestines.^[6] MWU gives 1586 for its first use.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Merely mechanical, without active intelligence, is from 1843.^[5] Self-acting, moving or acting on its own, is from 1812,^[5][3] and of a firearm that loads and fires continuously from 1877.^[5][2] The automatic telephone exchange is from 1879,^[5] and machinery that imitates human action from 1940.^[3][5] The noun, an automatic pistol, is from 1902, a machine operated automatically from 1909,^[5][2] and a vehicle with automatic transmission from 1949.^[3] The AHD notes that the word's link with machinery reflects how people came to see the world in mechanical terms.^[6]

Timeline

• 1580s – automatical.^[3]
• 1748 – involuntary, of bodily motions.^[5][2]
• 1812 – self-acting.^[5]
• 1877 – of firearms.^[5]
• 1902 – the noun, an automatic pistol.^[5][2]
• 1949 – a car with automatic transmission.^[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of a machine or device, working by itself with little or no human control.
2. Done without thinking, from habit or reflex.
3. Happening as a necessary result: an automatic penalty.
4. Of a firearm, firing continuously while the trigger is pressed.

Noun

1. An automatic firearm.
2. A vehicle with automatic transmission.

Word family

• automatically
• automaticity
• Instamatic
• laundromat
• nonautomatic
• automatic pilot
• automatic transmission
• automatic rifle

Related words

• automat
• automation
• automatization
• automatize
• automaton
• automobile
• autopilot
• auto-
• autonomous
• mind

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster