autonomous
Americanadjective
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Government.
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self-governing; independent; subject to its own laws only.
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pertaining to an autonomy, or a self-governing community.
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having autonomy; not subject to control from outside; independent.
a subsidiary that functioned as an autonomous unit.
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(of a machine, device, etc.) able to operate with little or no human control or intervention.
an autonomous vehicle.
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Biology.
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existing and functioning as an independent organism.
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growing naturally or spontaneously, without cultivation.
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adjective
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(of a community, country, etc) possessing a large degree of self-government
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of or relating to an autonomous community
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independent of others
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philosophy
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acting or able to act in accordance with rules and principles of one's own choosing
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(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
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biology existing as an organism independent of other organisms or parts
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a variant spelling of autonomic
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The company plans to continue developing autonomous vehicles, alongside humanoid robots, and to refine its advanced driver assistance system in 2026.
From MarketWatch
These included underwater mapping tools as well as autonomous and remotely operated vehicles, which allowed the team to closely examine the seafloor.
From Science Daily
Based in Singapore after relocating from China, Manus has sought to set itself apart from rival AI developers with what it claims can be a "truly autonomous" agent.
From BBC
The company plans to continue developing autonomous vehicles, humanoid robots and refine its advanced driver assistance system in 2026.
From MarketWatch
Manus made a splash in March when it previewed an AI agent—a program capable of taking simple instructions and performing multistep tasks autonomously—that could produce detailed research reports and build custom websites.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
