automaton
automaton Lexical Profile
automaton Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A moving mechanical device made in imitation of a human being or animal, designed to follow a predetermined sequence of operations automatically.
"The museum's eighteenth-century clockwork automaton could still write out a complete poem with a quill pen."
A person who acts in a monotonous, mechanical, or unemotional manner without apparent conscious thought.
"After working twelve-hour shifts all week, he went through his morning routine like an automaton."
An abstract self-operating mathematical model of a computing machine that transitions through a sequence of states according to formal rules and inputs.
"In computer science class, we designed a deterministic finite automaton to recognize valid email strings."
Word Nuance & Usage
Both "automatons" and the Greek-derived "automata" are accepted plural forms, though "automata" is strongly preferred in mathematics, computer science, and formal academic writing.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 17th century via Latin from Ancient Greek 'automaton', the neuter form of 'automatos' ('acting of one's own will, self-moving'), from 'autos' ('self') and a root related to 'menos' ('mind, spirit, or purpose').