automatic
/ˌɔː.təˈmæt.ɪk/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.36 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Capable of operating without external control or intervention.
adj
Necessary, inevitable, prescribed by logic, law, etc.
adj
Firing continuously as long as the trigger is pressed until ammunition is exhausted.
adj
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.
adj
Automatically added to and removed from the stack during the course of function calls.
adj
Having one or more finite-state automata.
noun
A car with an automatic transmission; the transmission itself.
Example Sentences
- "The automatic clothes washer was a great labor-saving device."
- ""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."
- "The reaction was automatic: flight!"
- "Absent-minded doodling is a form of automatic art."
- ""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?!""
- "Spitting at another player means an automatic red card."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew Proto-Indo-European *tó- Proto-Hellenic *autós 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɔː.təˈmæt.ɪk/
- British English: /ˌɔː.təˈmæt.ɪk/
Inflected Forms
more automatic (comparative)
most automatic (superlative)
dubious (superlative)
automatick (alternative, obsolete)
automatics (plural)