semiautonomous

American  

[sem-ee-aw-ton-uh-muhs, sem-ahy-] / ˌsɛm i ɔˈtɒn ə məs, ˌsɛm aɪ- /

adjective

1. partially self-governing, especially with reference to internal affairs.

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Etymology

Origin of semiautonomous

First recorded in 1900–05; semi- + autonomous

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

semiautonomous

The reassignment is part of broader organizational changes that have the effect of making DeepMind—which Google acquired in 2014 and has functioned as a semiautonomous operation—more tightly integrated with the rest of the company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Alternate proposals would make Donnyland into an economic development zone — a city-state like Monaco on the French Mediterranean that could be semiautonomous.

From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2026

As a semiautonomous Danish territory, Greenland is protected by NATO, which would not only marshal the U.S. military to respond to any attack but would also rally the alliance’s other 31 countries.

From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2026

Licenses granted before the moratorium have opened up the possibility of a new revenue source that could help Greenland become financially independent from Denmark, which currently subsidizes the semiautonomous territory.

From Barron's ● Jan. 7, 2026

A few weeks before Greenhouse, Bradbury had tried to mollify the willful physicist by creating a semiautonomous thermonuclear division at Los Alamos, giving Teller authority over 25 scientists.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik