auto-

au·to-
UK/ˈɔː.tə-/UK/ˈɔː.təʊ-/US/ˈɔ.tə-/US[ˈɔ.ɾə-]

prefix

Reflexive, regarding or to oneself.

“auto- + cab → autocab”

Similar
self-ipsi-
Opposite
allo-hetero-syn-inter-co-
OriginAncient Greek αὐτο- (auto-) ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew ← Proto-Hellenic *autós →
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Meanings

auto-1

prefix

alternative aut-

  1. Reflexive, regarding or to oneself.

    auto- + erotic → autoerotic

    1 more example

    auto- + biography → autobiography

    Synonyms: self-, ipsi-

auto-2

prefix

alternative aut-

  1. Automatic.

    auto- + walk → autowalk

    2 more examples

    auto- + focus → autofocus

    auto- + loader → autoloader

auto-3

prefix

alternative aut-

  1. Self-propelled.

    auto- + cab → autocab

    1 more example

    auto- + car → autocar

  2. Relating to cars or the driving of cars.

    auto- + cross → autocross

    1 more example

    auto- + -phile → autophile

Synonyms & antonyms

prefixReflexive, regarding or to oneself.

Similar
self-ipsi-
Opposite
allo-hetero-syn-inter-co-con-com-col-cor-sym-syl-
Also see
ipsi-self-

Origin

auto- · prefix

  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. Englishauto-

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-, “self-”).

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

auto- · prefix

  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. Englishautomaticclip.
  17. Englishauto-

Clipping of automatic.

Full word history & related roots →

auto- · prefix

  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. Frenchauto-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)ewh₁-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)owh₁éyeti
  12. Proto-Italic*moweō
  13. Latinmoveō
  14. Latinmōbili
  15. Frenchmobile
  16. Frenchautomobile
  17. Englishautomobileclip.
  18. Englishauto-

Clipping of automobile (“self-propelled”), itself equivalent to auto- (“self”) + mobile. In later formations influenced by auto (“automobile”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans outo-
  • outo-regarding oneself
Ancient Greek αὐτό-
  • αὐτό- (autó-)regarding oneself
Basque auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
Bulgarian авто-, авто-
  • авто- (avto-)regarding oneself
  • авто- (avto-)automatic
  • авто- (avto-)relating to cars or the driving of cars
Catalan auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
Czech auto-, samo-
  • auto-regarding oneself
  • samo-automatic
Danish auto-, selv-
  • auto-regarding oneself
  • selv-regarding oneself
  • auto-automatic
Dutch auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
Esperanto aŭto-
  • aŭto-regarding oneself
Estonian auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
Finnish auto-, itse-
  • auto-regarding oneself
  • itse-regarding oneself
  • oma-regarding oneself
  • auto-automatic
  • automaatti-automatic
  • automaattinenautomatic
  • auto-relating to cars or the driving of cars
French auto-, auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
  • auto-automatic
  • auto-relating to cars or the driving of cars
German auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
Greek αυτο-, αυτο-
  • αυτο- (afto-)regarding oneself
  • αυτο- (afto-)automatic
  • αυτο- (afto-)relating to cars or the driving of cars
Hebrew אוֹטוֹ־
  • אוֹטוֹ־ (oto-)regarding oneself
Hindi आत्म
  • आत्म (ātma)regarding oneself
Hungarian auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
Indonesian auto-, swa-
  • auto-regarding oneself
  • swa-regarding oneself
Italian auto-, auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
  • auto-automatic
  • auto-relating to cars or the driving of cars
Korean 자동
  • 자동 (jadong)automatic
Latin auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
Latvian auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
Lithuanian auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
Malay swa-
  • swa-regarding oneself
Norwegian auto-
  • auto-relating to cars or the driving of cars
Norwegian Bokmål selv-, auto-
  • selv-regarding oneself
  • auto-regarding oneself
  • auto-automatic
Persian اتو, خود
  • اتو (oto-)regarding oneself
  • خود (xod-)regarding oneself
Polish auto-, samo-
  • auto-regarding oneself
  • samo-regarding oneself
  • auto-automatic
  • samo-automatic
  • auto-relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • samo-relating to cars or the driving of cars
Portuguese auto-, auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
  • auto-automatic
  • auto-relating to cars or the driving of cars
Romanian auto-, ауто-
  • auto-regarding oneself
  • ауто- (auto-)regarding oneself
Russian авто-, само-
  • авто- (avto-)regarding oneself
  • само- (samo-)regarding oneself
  • себе- (sebe-)regarding oneself
  • авто- (avto-)automatic
  • авто- (avto-)relating to cars or the driving of cars
Slovak auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
Spanish auto-
  • auto-regarding oneself
Swedish auto-, själv-
  • auto-regarding oneself
  • själv-regarding oneself
Tagalog awto-, sari-
  • awto-regarding oneself
  • sari-regarding oneself
  • saril-regarding oneself
Turkish oto-
  • oto-regarding oneself
Ukrainian авто-
  • авто- (avto-)regarding oneself
Yiddish אויטאָ־
  • אויטאָ־ (oyto-)regarding oneself
Cite this entry
APA

auto-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/auto-

MLA

“auto-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/auto-. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “auto-,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/auto-.

Source: auto- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.