Automaton definition
One that behaves or responds in a mechanical way.
noun
An apparatus that automatically performs certain actions by responding to preset controls or encoded instructions.
noun
A self-operating machine or mechanism, especially a robot.
noun
A person who acts like a machine or robot, often defined as having a monotonous lifestyle and lacking in emotion.
Due to her strict adherence to her daily schedule, Jessica was becoming more and more convinced that she was an automaton.
A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for a second, that second for a third, and so on 'til the bulk of the society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery, to have no sensibilities left but for sinning and suffering. - Thomas Jefferson.
noun
The definition of an automaton is a self-propelled or self-powered machine.
An example of an automaton is a car that drives without a human driver.
noun
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Anything that can move or act of itself.
noun
An electronic machine, control device, etc. equipped with a computer and designed to operate automatically in response to instructions previously fed into the computer.
noun
A person or animal acting in an automatic or mechanical way.
noun
A formal system, such as finite automaton.
noun
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Origin of automaton
- Latin self-operating machine from Greek from neuter of automatos self-acting automatic
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Ancient Greek αὐτόματον (automaton), neuter of αὐτόματος (automatos, “self moving, self willed”).
From Wiktionary