autonomy

American  

[aw-ton-uh-mee] / ɔˈtɒn ə mi /

noun

plural

autonomies

1. independence or freedom, as of the will or one's actions.

   the autonomy of the individual.

2. the condition of being autonomous; self-government or the right of self-government.

   The rebels demanded autonomy from Spain.

3. a self-governing community.

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autonomy British  

/ ɔːˈtɒnəmɪ /

noun

1. the right or state of self-government, esp when limited

2. a state, community, or individual possessing autonomy

3. freedom to determine one's own actions, behaviour, etc

4. philosophy

   1. the doctrine that the individual human will is or ought to be governed only by its own principles and laws See also categorical imperative

   2. the state in which one's actions are autonomous

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Other Word Forms

• autonomist noun

Etymology

Origin of autonomy

First recorded in 1615–25; from Greek autonomía “independence,” equivalent to autónom(os) autonomous + -ia -y ³

Example Sentences

But I also think that we’ve yet to really get to the kind of complex, multipart tasks that function or can function with a lot of autonomy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Protesters carried pictures of Ghazal along with banners expressing support for him, while chanting calls for decentralised government authority and a degree of regional autonomy.

From Barron's

Still, Anthropic recently revealed that its AI Claude was used to carry out an attack almost on its own, which suggests AI is closing in on autonomy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Tesla is ending 2025 on a high note, and investor are looking for even bigger things next year as the electric vehicle giant doubles down on artificial intelligence and autonomy.

From MarketWatch

The European Union and several member states strongly condemned the move and vowed to defend Europe's regulatory autonomy.

From Barron's

Related Words

• freedom
• self-determination
• self-government
• self-rule
• sovereignty