Etymology

autonomy

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Today it means: The right or condition of self-government; freedom to act or function independently. Full definition →

Ancient Greek αὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomĭ́ā) ← Proto-Hellenic *némō ← Proto-Indo-European *németi
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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*nem-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*németi
  11. Proto-Hellenic*némō
  12. Ancient Greekνέμω (némō)
  13. Ancient Greekνόμος (nómos)
  14. Ancient Greekαὐτόνομος (autónomos)
  15. Ancient Greekαὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomĭ́ā)
  16. 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.