automatic
pronunciation
How to pronounce automatic in British English:
UK [ˌɔːtəˈmætɪk]
How to pronounce automatic in American English:
US [ˌɔːtəˈmætɪk]
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- Noun:
- light machine gun
- a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released
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- Adjective:
- operating with minimal human intervention; independent of external control
- like the unthinking functioning of a machine
- without volition or conscious control
Word Origin
- automatic (adj.)
- "self-acting, moving or acting on its own," 1812, from Greek automatos, used of the gates of Olympus and the tripods of Hephaestus (also "without apparent cause, by accident"), from autos "self" (see auto-) + matos "thinking, animated" (see automaton). Of involuntary animal or human actions, from 1748, first used in this sense by English physician and philosopher David Hartley (1705-1757). In reference to a type of firearm, from 1877; specifically of machinery that imitates human-directed action from 1940.
- automatic (n.)
- "automatic weapon," 1902, from automatic (adj.). Meaning "motorized vehicle with automatic transmission" is from 1949.
Synonym
Antonym
Example
- 1. Hospitals started using automatic faucets about ten years ago .
- 2. Keep track of your favourite websites using this automatic " feed reader " .
- 3. Habits are beneficial because they 're automatic .
- 4. In so doing , the performance of those tasks will become automatic .
- 5. I walked past the automatic doors .