automation
Americannoun
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automations
plural
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the technique, method, or system of operating or controlling a process by highly automatic means, as by electronic devices, reducing human intervention to a minimum.
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a mechanical device, operated electronically, that functions automatically, without continuous input from an operator.
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act or process of automating.
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the state of being automated.
noun
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the use of methods for controlling industrial processes automatically, esp by electronically controlled systems, often reducing manpower
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the extent to which a process is so controlled
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of automation
First recorded in 1945–50; autom(atic) ( def. ) + (oper)ation ( def. )
Explanation
Automation means making something automatic, or mechanized. If there's smoke in your house and your smoke detector is set up to "call" the fire department, that's an example of automation. Car companies were the first manufacturers to use assembly lines, where the steps of building a car were divided among workers––and when those jobs started to be done more often by machines then by people, an executive at Ford coined the term automation to describe what was happening.
Vocabulary lists containing automation
To Thine Own Self Be True: Auto
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President Obama's Farewell Address
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But he insisted that need not be the case if everyday people are armed with personal AIs; instead, they can improve their skills and invent new businesses faster than automation can replace them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
More automation is also coming to delivery, which accounts for about 70% of Wonder’s business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Wonder’s push for automation comes as the company plots an initial public offering for sometime next year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
In terms of the bigger picture, the taskforce estimates AI and automation could displace hundreds of thousands of women's jobs by 2035.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
As I detail in the next chapter, we are entering a phase where we are going to see the digitization, virtualization, and automation of more and more everything.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
“What they want to do is create their own processes, their own workflows, their own agents, their own automations on top of it,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
The company aims to make its 700-plus people self-sufficient, building the automations and AI processes they need themselves.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2025
Routines, Shortcuts and other automations probably won’t cure a serious smartphone addiction.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 21, 2024
As a result, program traders gave way to more sophisticated automations with much more advanced technology: High-frequency trading.
From Scientific American ● May 19, 2023
Hiring specifically in back-office functions such as human resources will be suspended or slowed, Krishna said, adding that 30% of non-customer-facing roles could be replaced by AI and automations in five years.
From Reuters ● May 1, 2023
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
