The story
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew
- Proto-Indo-European*tó-
- Proto-Hellenic*autós
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew
- Ancient Greekαὖ (aû)
- Ancient Greekτόν (tón)
- Ancient Greekαὐτός (autós)
- Ancient Greekαὐτο- (auto-)
- Proto-Indo-European*nem-
- Proto-Indo-European*németi
- Proto-Hellenic*némō
- Ancient Greekνέμω (némō)
- Ancient Greekνόμος (nómos)
- Ancient Greekαὐτόνομος (autónomos)
- Ancient Greekαὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomĭ́ā)
- English todayautonomy
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”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.