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

Explanation

Autonomous describes things that function separately or independently. Once you move out of your parents' house and get your own job, you will be an autonomous member of the family. This adjective autonomous is often used of countries, regions, or groups that have the right to govern themselves: Vatican City, where the Catholic pope lives, is an autonomous territory located within the city limits of Rome. The corresponding noun is autonomy, referring to the state of existing or functioning independently. Autonomous comes from the Greek roots autos, "self," and nomos, "law."

Example Sentences

Verne's service is intended to be fully autonomous, with a human "operator" temporarily behind the wheel during the current phased rollout, in case intervention is needed.

From Barron's • May 5, 2026

Chicago recently banned the expansion of autonomous delivery robots.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026

Driverless cars are becoming more common in some California cities, but when the autonomous vehicles violate traffic laws, police haven't been able to ticket them - until now.

From BBC • May 2, 2026

The company has been testing autonomous vehicles in Las Vegas since 2021.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

If genetic modules are so autonomous, then why—to turn Morgan’s riddle on its head—are legs not growing out of fly’s heads, or humans not born with thumbs emerging from our noses?

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• self-governing
• sovereign