automaton

[ aw-tom-uh-ton, -tn ]

/ ɔˈtɒm əˌtɒn, -tn /

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See synonyms for: automaton / automatous on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural au·tom·a·tons, au·tom·a·ta

[aw-tom-uh-tuh]. /ɔˈtɒm ə tə/.

a mechanical figure or contrivance constructed to act as if by its own motive power; robot.

a person or animal that acts in a monotonous, routine manner, without active intelligence.

something capable of acting automatically or without an external motive force.

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Origin of automaton

1605–15; <Latin: automatic device <Greek, noun use of neuter of autómatos spontaneous, acting without human agency, equivalent to auto-auto-¹ + -matos, adj. derivative from base of memonénai to intend, ménos might, force

OTHER WORDS FROM automaton

au·tom·a·tous, adjective

Words nearby automaton

automatic writing, automation, automatism, automatize, automatograph, automaton, automechanism, autometer, automobile, automobile insurance, automobilia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use automaton in a sentence

I would much rather share the world with them than with thoughtless automatons.
Do You Want AI to Be Conscious? - Issue 102: Hidden Truths|Ryota Kanai|June 9, 2021|Nautilus
For much of the 20th century, nonhuman creatures were seen as essentially biological automatons that responded in certain instinctual ways to external stimulus, but lacked the rich inner lives and selfhood that humans possess.
Eye-opening acts of empathy in the animal kingdom|Richard Schiffman|April 9, 2021|Washington Post
In a sport full of corporate automatons, he will sit down and tell you what’s on his mind, even if it’s a lot.
A decade after collapsing, Rory McIlroy is still trying to get off the deck at the Masters|Barry Svrluga|April 8, 2021|Washington Post
These include old-school path-finding algorithms that connect remote parts of a settlement, cellular automata that can produce complex structures using simple rules, and machine learning.
AI planners in Minecraft could help machines design better cities|Will Heaven|September 22, 2020|MIT Technology Review

“It was no brute whom Smiley was pursuing with such mastery, no unqualified fanatic after all, no automaton,” le Carré writes.
Iran’s Top Spy Is the Modern-Day Karla, John Le Carré’s Villainous Mastermind|Michael Weiss|July 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Despite how he might come across in the history books, he wasn't some bland, rule-following "high-integrity" automaton.
Wes Clark on Washington|General Wesley K. Clark|October 14, 2010|DAILY BEAST
But it did suggest that Rubio was more than a Reaganite automaton.
Charlie Crist's Secret|Reihan Salam|May 13, 2009|DAILY BEAST
On one hand she's a pitch-perfect automaton; indeed, her longest speaking part is half a sentence in Russian.
Thandie Nails Condi|Patricia J. Williams|October 21, 2008|DAILY BEAST
Crawley came walking like an automaton from whose joints the oil had suddenly dried.
It Is Never Too Late to Mend|Charles Reade
The scrivener did look up accordingly, with the action of an automaton which suddenly obeys the impulse of a pressed spring.
The Fortunes of Nigel|Sir Walter Scott
Like an automaton the man stepped forward, and after him paced the white horse.
Riders of the Silences|John Frederick
I have again the old feeling of having surrendered my imagination and of moving like an automaton.
The Wasted Generation|Owen Johnson
The same gentleman exhibited an automaton in England, of the figure of a man, as large as life.
The Book of Curiosities|I. Platts

British Dictionary definitions for automaton

automaton

/ (ɔːˈtɒməˌtɒn, -tən) /

noun plural -tons or -ta (-tə)

a mechanical device operating under its own hidden power; robot

a person who acts mechanically or leads a routine monotonous life

Derived forms of automaton

automatous, adjective

Word Origin for automaton

C17: from Latin, from Greek, from automatos spontaneous, self-moving

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

automaton

Origin of automaton

OTHER WORDS FROM automaton

Words nearby automaton

Words related to automaton

How to use automaton in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for automaton

Derived forms of automaton

Word Origin for automaton