auto-, aut- +

That which breaks down plant or animal tissue by the action of enzymes within the tissue that is affected.

1. To cause to undergo autolysis
2. To induce or to undergo autolysis.

1. A compulsion toward solitude or of being by oneself.
2. A preoccupation with suicide.

1. To apply the principles of automation to something; such as, a mechanical process, industry, office, etc.
2. To operate or to control by automation.

1. Acting or operating in a manner essentially independent of external influence or control; such as, an automatic light switch; a budget deficit that triggered automatic spending cuts.
2. Self-regulating; for example, an automatic washing machine.
3. Acting or done without volition or conscious control; involuntary; spontaneous; for example, automatic shrinking of the pupils of the eyes in strong light.
4. Acting or done as if by machine; mechanical; such as, an automatic reply to a familiar question.
5. Capable of firing continuously until ammunition is exhausted or the trigger is released; as with, an automatic rifle.
6. Semiautomatic; an automatic pistol.

The words automatic pilot or automatic transmission bring to mind mechanical devices that operate with minimal human intervention. Yet the word automatic, which goes back to the Greek word automatos, “acting of one's own will, self-acting, of itself,” is made up of two parts, auto-, “self,” and -matos, “willing,” is first recorded in English in 1748 with reference to motions of the body; such as, the peristaltic action of the intestines: “The Motions are called automatic from their Resemblance to the Motions of Automata, or Machines, whose Principle of Motion is within themselves.”

Although the writer had machines in mind, automatic could be used as a reference to living things, a use we still have. The association of automatic chiefly with machinery may represent one instance of many in which we have come to see the world in mechanical terms.

1. In a reflex manner; as, "He answered automatically."
2. In a mechanical manner; by a mechanism operating with minimal human intervention; independent of external control.

1. A system in which a workplace or process has been converted to one that replaces or minimizes human labor with mechanical or electronic equipment.
2. A mechanical device, operated electronically, and which functions automatically, without continuous input from an operator.
3. The act of automating something, or the state of being automated.

This word was coined in 1936 by D.S. Harder, a Generl Motors employee, but it didn't come into popular use until around the 1950s. Harder defined automation as the "automatic handling of parts between progressive production processes," but one of the current definitions is "the technique or system of operating a mechanical or productive device by highly automatic means, as by electronic devices"; as well as, those shown above.

Based on information from Word and Phrase Origins

1. Behavior that is not under the control of the will, as a reflexive response.
2. An apparently goal-directed activity that is not, in fact, under the conscious, voluntary control, of the subject (occurring in epilepsy, catatonia, and fugue states).

This subject includes the performance of acts without conscious will, as, for example, after an attack of epilepsy or concussion of the brain. In such conditions, the person may perform acts of which he/she is neither conscious at the time nor has any memory afterwards. It is especially liable to occur when people suffering from epilepsy, mental subnormality, or concussion consume alcoholic liquors.

Any apparatus or instrument for recording automatic or involuntary movements.

1. A self-operating machine or mechanism, especially a robot.
2. A mechanical figure or contrivance constructed to act as if by its own motive power.
3. Someone who acts or responds in a mechanical or apathetic way; "only an automaton wouldn't have noticed". Also, zombi, zombie.
4. A person or animal that acts in a monotonous, routine manner, without active intelligence.
5. Mechanism that can move automatically or without an external motive force; such as, a robot, golem.

Automata theory, the invention and study of automata, includes the study of the capabilities and limitations of computing processes, the manner in which systems receive input, process it, and produce output, and the relationships between behavioral theories and the operation and use of automated devices.

An abnormal fear of ventriloquists' dummies, animaltronic creatures, wax statues, or anything that represents a being that appears to have feelings or perceptions.

1. Self-measurement.
2. Self-estimation.
3. Measurement of the parts of one's figure in terms of its entire height.
4. Using oneself as the measuring stick for other people, cultures, and languages.

1. In an organism, the mimicking of one anatomical structure by another to accentuate the former; for example, the ears of some antelopes that mimic their horns in acting as visual signaling devices.
2. Mimicry in which a palatable morph (the mimic) resembles a non-palatable morph (the model) of the same species; the polymorphism with respect to palatability can arise from a choice of different food plants by model and mimic.

Spontaneous revival of memories of an earlier condition of one's life.

1. That which moves by means of mechanism and power within itself; especially, of a vehicle; self-propelling as distinguished from horse-drawn.
2. A self-moving vehicle; a motor vehicle.
3. A road vehicle, usually with four wheels and powered by an internal-combustion engine, designed to carry a small number of passengers.