autonomy
/ɔˈtɑ.nə.mi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.86 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The right or condition of self-government; freedom to act or function independently.
Uncountable
noun
The capacity of a system to make a decision about its actions without the involvement of another system or operator.
Uncountable
noun
The status of a church whose highest-ranking bishop is appointed by the patriarch of the mother church, but which is self-governing in all other respects. Compare autocephaly.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "But while assiduously dismissing any though of its own autonomy and proclaiming its victims its judges, it outdoes, in its veiled autocracy, all the excesses of autonomous art."
- "Financial independence and micro retirement have come to represent the autonomy I've created for myself, which is a powerful feeling."
- "...[T]he fact that a scientific theory finds applications to a wide variety of different phenomena does not imply anything about the autonomy of this theory from deeper physical laws."
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 *nem-der. Proto-Indo-European *németi Proto-Hellenic *némō Ancient Greek νέμω (némō) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Hellenic *-os Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek νόμος (nómos) ▲ Proto-Hellenic *-os Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek αὐτόνομος (autónomos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek αὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomĭ́ā)bor. English autonomy Borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomĭ́ā, “freedom to use its own laws, independence”), from αὐτόνομος (autónomos, “living under one's own laws, independent”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, “-y, -ia”, nominal suffix). By surface analysis, auto- (“self”) + -nomy (“a system of rules or laws about a particular field”).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɔˈtɑ.nə.mi/
- British English: /ɔːˈtɒn.ə.mi/