The factory uses an ____ machine to package cereal boxes.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The car has an ____ transmission, so you don't need to change gears.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewder.?
Proto-Indo-European *sóder.?
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewder.
Ancient Greek αὖ (aû)
Ancient Greek τόν (tón)?
Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós)
Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-)
Proto-Indo-European *men-
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Indo-European *mn̥tós
Proto-Hellenic *mətós
Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτος (autómătos)
Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτον (autómăton)der.
Classical Latin automatum
New Latin automaticusbor.
English automatic
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""But you know of the automatic card-player?"
[…] Carrados had heard more than once casual allusions to a wonderful mechanical contrivance that played cards with discrimination."
— 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max Carrados:
""I don't know why! Sometimes I feel like a girl! Sometimes a guy! I don't know why I feel that way! I just do! Always have! I can't remember not feeling this way! How do you explain something as natural and automatic to you as breathing?!""
— 2021 November 10, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Wednesday, Nov 10, 2021:
"From a little hand-bag he extracted his automatic pistol, which he put upon the mantelpiece."
— 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
"Automatic variables are created on the stack. They are valid only from the point where they are declared to the end of the function."
— 2012, Robert Clair, Learning Objective-C 2.0: A Hands-on Guide:
""I told him that if my automatic was not a spook-stopper, nothin' else would serve.""
— 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019: