Automaton

//ɔːˈtɒmətən// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A machine or robot designed to follow a precise sequence of instructions.

    "Nick had heard her play through the very beginning of it a dozen times, until he was screaming at her in his head to go on. Well, now she did, watching her own hands busying up and down the keyboard as if they were astonishing automata that she had wound up and set in motion, in perfect synchrony, to produce this silvery flow of sound."

  2. 2
    a mechanism that can move automatically wordnet
  3. 3
    A person who acts like a machine or robot, often defined as having a monotonous lifestyle and lacking in emotion.

    "Due to her strict adherence to her daily schedule, Jessica was becoming more and more convinced that she was an automaton."

  4. 4
    a machine that operates on its own without the need for human control wordnet
  5. 5
    A formal system, such as a finite-state machine or cellular automaton.
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  1. 6
    someone who acts or responds in a mechanical or apathetic way wordnet
  2. 7
    A toy in the form of a mechanical figure.
  3. 8
    The self-acting power of the muscular and nervous systems, by which movement is effected without intelligent determination. dated

Etymology

From Ancient Greek αὐτόματον (autómaton), neuter of αὐτόματος (autómatos, “self moving, self willed”). Doublet of automat.

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