Related Searches
on Ask.com
Automaton - 5 dictionary results
au⋅tom⋅a⋅ton
[aw-tom-uh-ton, -tn] 
–noun, plural -tons, -ta [-tuh] .
[-tuh] . | 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. |
Origin:
1605–15; < L: automatic device < Gk, n. use of neut. of autómatos spontaneous, acting without human agency, equiv. to auto- auto- 1 + -matos, adj. deriv. from base of memonénai to intend, ménos might, force
1605–15; < L: automatic device < Gk, n. use of neut. of autómatos spontaneous, acting without human agency, equiv. to auto- auto- 1 + -matos, adj. deriv. from base of memonénai to intend, ménos might, force
Related forms:
au⋅tom⋅a⋅tous, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To Automaton
| au·tom·a·ton (ô-tŏm'ə-tən, -tŏn') 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 © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Automaton
Au*tom"a*ton\, n.; pl. L. Automata, E. Automatons. [L. fr. Gr. ?, neut. of ? self-moving; ? self + a root ma, man, to strive, think, cf. ? to strive. See Mean, v. i.]1. Any thing or being regarded as having the power of spontaneous motion or action. --Huxley. So great and admirable an automaton as the world. --Boyle. These living automata, human bodies. --Boyle. 2. A self-moving machine, or one which has its motive power within itself; -- applied chiefly to machines which appear to imitate spontaneously the motions of living beings, such as men, birds, etc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : Automaton
Spanish:
autómata,
German:
der Roboter,
Japanese:
自動人形
automaton
1611, from L. automaton, from Gk. automaton, neut. of automatos "self-acting," from autos "self" + matos "thinking, animated."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
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
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
