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

Example Sentences

WeRide is likely to reinforce its first-mover advantages, such as level 4 autonomous driving technology, strong unit economics, and deep engagement with industry regulators, they say.

From The Wall Street Journal

Researchers are also exploring whether these machines could capture viruses like SARS-CoV-2, with future systems potentially operating as fully autonomous drug delivery platforms.

From Science Daily

The app would combine ChatGPT, the coding agent Codex, browsing and “broader agentic capabilities,” the company said, which would allow AI systems to work autonomously to carry out tasks.

From MarketWatch

In the meantime, Interlune is testing an autonomous excavator and building a research factory in Texas.

From MarketWatch

You could see autonomous robots performing complicated surgeries by themselves, every car on the road getting driven autonomously, and personal artificial intelligence agents organizing every step of a person’s day-to-day activities.

From Barron's

Related Words

• self-governing
• sovereign