automaton

noun

au·​tom·​a·​ton ȯ-ˈtä-mə-tən How to pronounce automaton (audio)
-mə-ˌtän
plural automatons or automata ȯ-ˈtä-mə-tə How to pronounce automaton (audio)
-mə-ˌtä
1
: a mechanism that is relatively self-operating
especially : robot
2
: a machine or control mechanism designed to follow automatically a predetermined sequence of operations or respond to encoded instructions
3
: an individual who acts in a mechanical fashion
He is an unfeeling automaton.

Did you know?

The idea of the automaton has fascinated people for many centuries. A traveler to the emperor's court in Byzantium in A.D. 949 reported that mechanical birds sat in a golden tree singing the songs of their species; that mechanical lions flanked the throne, roaring and switching their great tails; and that, as he stood watching, the emperor's throne suddenly shot upward toward the high ceiling, and when it slowly descended the emperor was wearing new robes. Early automata (notice the common plural form) often relied on water, steam, or falling weights to power them. Today automata, often called robots, are used in manufacturing plants to build not only vehicles but also much smaller electronic equipment.

Examples of automaton in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web People work and fight increasingly like automatons, [rather] than on motivation. Serhiy Morgunov, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024 Filling in the gaps forced researchers to dream up a slew of new techniques that pushed the boundaries of what was thought possible with cellular automata, as mathematicians call evolving grids like Life. Alex Stone, Quanta Magazine, 18 Jan. 2024 Indeed, one takeaway from this portrait of a shabby-happy Big Apple populated solely with anthropomorphic animals and surprisingly sensitive automatons is that the world might be a better place without humans in it. Guy Lodge, Variety, 31 Dec. 2023 The game is set in a kind of computational universe called a cellular automaton. The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 13 Dec. 2023 But its protagonist is a machine: an automaton of a tiger attacking a British soldier, built by an Indian artisan in the late 1700s. Mark Athitakis, Los Angeles Times, 5 Dec. 2023 The automatons are also in charge of moving supplies around, and those that have to enter areas with humans are outfitted with sensors that keep them from causing collisions. Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 21 Nov. 2023 These incongruities remind you that the company’s games are just one big Truman Show, a mechanical charade populated by automatons. Will Bedingfield, WIRED, 8 Sep. 2023 Little automatons toured the country—dolls controlled by clockwork. Alexander Sammon, Harper's Magazine, 8 Apr. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'automaton.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

earlier "contrivance with a hidden mechanism that appears to operate on its own," borrowed from Latin automatum, automaton, borrowed from Greek autómaton, noun derivative from neuter of autómatos "of one's own accord, acting without external intervention, natural," from auto- auto- + -matos, going back to Indo-European *mn̥to-, adjective derivative of the verbal base *men- "conceive a thought" (also in Greek mémona "[I] am eager, have in mind, intend," ménos "passion, resolve"), whence also Latin commentus "feigned, fabricated" (past participle of comminīscī "to think up, invent"), Sanskrit matá-, verbal adjective of mányate "(s/he) thinks" — more at mind entry 1

First Known Use

1639, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of automaton was in 1639

Dictionary Entries Near automaton

Cite this Entry

“Automaton.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/automaton. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

automaton

noun
au·​tom·​a·​ton ȯ-ˈtäm-ət-ən How to pronounce automaton (audio)
-ˈtäm-ə-ˌtän
plural automatons or automata -ət-ə How to pronounce automaton (audio)
1
: a machine that can move by itself
especially : robot sense 1a
2
: a person who acts in a mechanical way

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