Audio Help [aw-tom-uh-ton, -tn] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [-tuh] Pronunciation Key. | 1. | a mechanical figure or contrivance constructed to act as if by its own motive power; robot. |
| 2. | a person or animal that acts in a monotonous, routine manner, without active intelligence. |
| 3. | something capable of acting automatically or without an external motive force. |
] —Related forms
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
Automaton
To learn more about Automaton visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| au·tom·a·ton
Audio Help (ô-tŏm'ə-tən, -tŏn') Pronunciation Key
n. pl. au·tom·a·tons or au·tom·a·ta (-tə)
[Latin, self-operating machine, from Greek, from neuter of automatos, self-acting; see automatic.] au·tom'a·tous adj. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
automaton
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| automaton | |
noun | |
| 1. | someone who acts or responds in a mechanical or apathetic way; "only an automaton wouldn't have noticed" |
| 2. | a mechanism that can move automatically |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
automaton [oːˈtomətən, -tə] noun — plurals auˈtomata [-tə], auˈtomatons
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
automaton robotics, mathematics, algorithm
(Plural automata) A machine, robot, or formal system designed to follow a precise sequence of instructions.
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 behavioural theories and the operation and use of automated devices.
See also cellular automaton, finite state machine.
(1996-04-23)
| The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe |
Automaton
Au`to*mat"ic\, Automatical \Au`to*mat"ic*al\, a. [Cf. F. automatique. See Automaton.]1. Having an inherent power of action or motion. Nothing can be said to be automatic. --Sir H. Davy. 2. Pertaining to, or produced by, an automaton; of the nature of an automaton; self-acting or self-regulating under fixed conditions; -- esp. applied to machinery or devices in which certain things formerly or usually done by hand are done by the machine or device itself; as, the automatic feed of a lathe; automatic gas lighting; an automatic engine or switch; an automatic mouse. 3. Not voluntary; not depending on the will; mechanical; as, automatic movements or functions. Unconscious or automatic reasoning. --H. Spenser. Automatic arts, such economic arts or manufacture as are carried on by self-acting machinery. --Ure.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
automaton
automaton: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary
| On-line Medical Dictionary, © 1997-98 Academic Medical Publishing & CancerWEB |
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