autonomous

American  

[aw-ton-uh-muhs] / ɔˈtɒn ə məs /

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.

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autonomous British  

/ 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. a variant spelling of autonomic

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Other Word Forms

• autonomously adverb
• nonautonomous adjective
• nonautonomousness noun

Etymology

Origin of autonomous

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

Example Sentences

Many of those, he says, will be drones or autonomous vehicles, though they will also include hundreds of millions of humanoids and home robots.

From The Wall Street Journal

A ceasefire agreement has brought much of Syria's north-east under the control of Damascus, ending years of autonomous Kurdish rule.

From BBC

Anduril is developing new defense technologies that include drones, missiles, robotic submarines, and autonomous fighter jets.

From Los Angeles Times

The move came after the company updated its financial guidance External link following the recently announced acquisition External link of Seemann Composites and Materials Sciences, which expanded Karman’s business into autonomous maritime technologies.

From Barron's

The U-turn came after weeks of belligerent rhetoric and a vow to slap tariffs on eight European countries starting February 1 unless the autonomous territory was ceded to the United States.

From Barron's

Related Words

• self-governing
• sovereign