autonomous

[ aw-ton-uh-muhs ]

adjective

1. Government.
   1. self-governing; independent; subject to its own laws only.
   2. pertaining to an autonomy, or a self-governing community.
2. having autonomy; not subject to control from outside; independent:

   a subsidiary that functioned as an autonomous unit.

3. (of a machine, device, etc.) able to operate with little or no human control or intervention:

   an autonomous vehicle.

4. Biology.
   1. existing and functioning as an independent organism.
   2. growing naturally or spontaneously, without cultivation.

autonomous

/ ɔːˈtɒnəməs /

adjective

1. (of a community, country, etc) possessing a large degree of self-government
2. of or relating to an autonomous community
3. independent of others
4. philosophy
   1. acting or able to act in accordance with rules and principles of one's own choosing
   2. (in the moral philosophy of Kant, of an individual's will) directed to duty rather than to some other end Compare heteronomous See also categorical imperative
5. biology existing as an organism independent of other organisms or parts
6. See autonomic
   a variant spelling of autonomic

Derived Forms

• auˈtonomously, adverb

Other Words From

• au·ton·o·mous·ly adverb
• non·au·ton·o·mous adjective
• non·au·ton·o·mous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of autonomous¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; from Greek autónomos “with laws of one's own, independent,” equivalent to auto- auto- ¹ + nóm(os) “law, custom” + -os adjective suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of autonomous¹

C19: from Greek autonomos living under one's own laws, from auto- + nomos law

Example Sentences

Finally free of Japanese interference, Korea elected its first autonomous government in almost half a century.

From The Daily Beast

New York cannot be personified; it is not an autonomous entity.

From The Daily Beast

Any Miss America contestant who betrays herself to be a sexually autonomous being will be quickly sent packing.

From The Daily Beast

Our aim is that one day the mission will be autonomous, but we have a long way to go to reach that.

From The Daily Beast

Following his time on the Iraqi High Tribunal, he became the minister of justice in the Kurdistan Autonomous Region.

From The Daily Beast

As for the autonomous cities of Asia, they must acquire their freedom by his free grace, not by an injunction from Rome.

From Project Gutenberg

But streets demand all shades of verbal expression (from the non-existing up to the autonomous creature).

From Project Gutenberg

To be strictly accurate, the significance of the -ness is not quite as inherently determined, as autonomous, as it might be.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus, a new movement begins; the passive attitude of the soul gives way to an autonomous attitude and movement.

From Project Gutenberg

He found a group of professional schools, each more or less autonomous, and he transformed it into a University.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• self-governing
• sovereign