Etymology

automation

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Today it means: The act or process of converting the controlling of a machine or device to a more automatic system, such as computer or electronic controls. Full definition →

English automatic ← New Latin automaticus ← Classical Latin automatum
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew
  2. Proto-Indo-European*tó-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*autós
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew
  5. Ancient Greekαὖ (aû)
  6. Ancient Greekτόν (tón)
  7. Ancient Greekαὐτός (autós)
  8. Ancient Greekαὐτο- (auto-)
  9. Proto-Indo-European*men-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*mn̥tós
  11. Proto-Hellenic*mətós
  12. Ancient Greekαὐτόμᾰτος (autómătos)
  13. Ancient Greekαὐτόμᾰτον (autómăton)
  14. Classical Latinautomatum
  15. New Latinautomaticus
  16. Englishautomatic
  17. English todayautomation

From automatic + -ion or automaton + -ion; coined by a Ford Executive Vice President, Delmar S. Harder, in the 1940s.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.