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.

---

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

---

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

About 80% of companies using AI agents, intelligent automation or autonomous technologies said they are cutting staff, according to a recent Gartner survey of 350 people in midlevel positions and above.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

These include precision landing, cryogenic propulsion, and autonomous guidance, navigation, and control.

From Science Daily • May 6, 2026

Tesla CEO Elon Musk hopes that FSD will advance to unsupervised autonomous driving by the end of the year.

From Barron's • May 5, 2026

Chicago recently banned the expansion of autonomous delivery robots.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026

For years gunters had speculated that Anorak still roamed the OASIS, now as an autonomous NPC.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Related Words

• self-governing
• sovereign