automatic
/ˌɔː.təˈmæt.ɪk/ adjective, noun
Forms dubious automatics automatick
- adjective Capable of operating without external control or intervention. “The automatic clothes washer was a great labor-saving device.”
- adjective Done out of habit or without conscious thought. “The reaction was automatic: flight!”
- adjective Necessary, inevitable, prescribed by logic, law, etc. “Spitting at another player means an automatic red card.”
- adjective (of a firearm such as a machine gun) Firing continuously as long as the trigger is pressed until ammunition is exhausted. “Fully automatic weapons cannot be legally owned by private citizens in the US, except in very special circumstances, as by private security companies.”
- adjective (of a handgun) An autoloader; a semi-automatic or self-loading pistol, as opposed to a revolver or other manually actuated handgun, which fires one shot per pull of the trigger; distinct from machine guns. “The US Army adopted John Browning's M1911 pistol as its sidearm, chambered in .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol).”
- adjective (programming, of a local variable) Automatically added to and removed from the stack during the course of function calls.
- adjective (mathematics, of a group) Having one or more finite-state automata.
- noun A car with an automatic transmission; the transmission itself. “I never learned to drive a stick. I can only drive an automatic.”
- noun A semi-automatic pistol. “The G-men raiding the speakeasy were equipped with .45 automatics, while the local policemen were carrying revolvers and shotguns.”
Synonyms
self-operating instinctive perfunctory thoughtless Pavlovian automatic rifle machine rifle automatic pistol automatonlike machinelike robotlike robotic reflex reflexive
Antonyms
manual non-automatic voluntary manual transmission standard transmission stick stickshift stick shift
Etymology
Borrowed from New Latin automaticus, from Classical Latin automatum (“automaton”) + -icus (adjectival suffix), from Ancient Greek αὐτόματον (autómaton), neuter of αὐτόματος (autómatos, “self-moving, moving of oneself, self-acting, spontaneous”), from αὐτός (autós, “self, myself”) + μέμαα (mémaa, “to wish eagerly, strive, yearn, desire”). The original pronunciation, apparently with stress on the second syllable, was after the ultimate Greek base.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having an inherent power of action or motion.
- adjective Pertaining to, or produced by, an automaton; of the nature of an automaton; self-acting or self-regulating under fixed conditions; --esp. applied to machinery or devices in which certain things formerly or usually done by hand are done by the machine or device itself; as, the automatic feed of a lathe; automatic gas lighting; an automatic engine or switch; an automatic mouse.
Etymology [Cf. F. automatique. See Automaton.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “automatic”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details