Meanings
adjectiveautonomous (comparative more autonomous, superlative most autonomous)
comparative more autonomous · superlative most autonomous
- Of or relating to a territory that governs itself independently.
"Thank you, Louis," interrupted Carrados. "It is very nice to learn that. But I am really going to Kingsmouth because there's a man there—a curate—who has the second best private collection in Europe of autonomous coins of Thessaly."
1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC - Acting on one's own or independently; of a child, acting without being governed by parental or guardian rules.
Though Cade has for years reported on the development of autonomous vehicles, test drives usually have so-called safety drivers who ride along and can take over in case something goes wrong.
2022 October 4, Soumya Karlamangla, “Behind the Story: Navigating San Francisco in a Driverless Car”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 21 Oct 2022Synonyms: self-standing, self-directed
- Celtic linguisticsUsed with no subject, indicating an unknown or unspecified agent; used in similar situations as the passive in English (the difference being that the theme in the English passive construction is the subject, while in the Celtic autonomous construction the theme is the object and there is no subject).
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveGoverning itself independently.
Similar
adjectiveActing on one's own or independently; of a child, acting without being governed by parental or guardian rules.
Similar
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
adjective(of political bodies) not controlled by outside forces
adjectiveexisting as an independent entity
Similar
adjective(of persons) free from external control and constraint in e.g. action and judgment
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- 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)
- Englishautonomy
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
- Englishautonomous
Translations
Arabic اِسْتِقْلَالِيّ
- اِسْتِقْلَالِيّ (istiqlāliyy)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Bulgarian самостоя́телен, автоно́мен
- самостоя́телен (samostojátelen)acting on one's own
- автоно́мен (avtonómen)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Catalan autònom, autònom
- autònomacting on one's own
- autònomself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Chinese Mandarin 自治
- 自治 (zìzhì)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Czech samosprávný, autonomní
- samosprávnýself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- autonomníself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Danish selvstændig, autonom
- selvstændigacting on one's own
- autonomacting on one's own
- autonomself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- selvstyretself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Dutch zelfstandig, autonoom
- zelfstandigacting on one's own
- autonoomacting on one's own
- autonoomself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Esperanto aŭtonoma
- aŭtonomaself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Finnish itsenäinen, autonominen
- itsenäinenacting on one's own
- autonominenself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- itsehallinnollinenself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
French autonome
- autonomeself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
German autonom
- autonomself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Greek αυτόνομος
- αυτόνομος (aftónomos)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Hebrew אוֹטוֹנוֹמִי
- אוֹטוֹנוֹמִי (otonómi)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Hindi आत्मनिर्भर, स्वावलंबी
- आत्मनिर्भर (ātmanirbhar)acting on one's own
- स्वावलंबी (svāvlambī)acting on one's own
- स्वायत्त (svāyatt)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Hungarian autonómia
- autonómiaself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Indonesian otonom, otonom
- otonomacting on one's own
- otonomself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Irish féinriartha, neamhspleách
- féinriarthaacting on one's own
- neamhspleáchacting on one's own
- saora verb form grammar of Celtic language
- féinrialaitheachself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- neamhspleáchself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Italian autonomo, indipendente
- autonomoself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- indipendenteself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Japanese 自立した, 主体的な
- 自立した (jiritsu shita)acting on one's own
- 主体的な (shutaiteki na)acting on one's own
- 自主的な (jishuteki na)acting on one's own
- 自治 (jichi)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- 自主的な (jishuteki na)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Korean 자치, 자주적
- 자치 (jachi)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- 자주적 (jajujeok)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Malay berautonomi, berautonomi
- berautonomiacting on one's own
- berautonomiself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Norwegian Bokmål sjølstendig, selvstendig
- sjølstendigacting on one's own
- selvstendigacting on one's own
- autonomacting on one's own
- autonomself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- selvstyrtself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- sjølstyrtself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Persian خودسر, خودرای
- خودسر (xodsar)acting on one's own
- خودرای (xodrây)acting on one's own
Polish autonomiczny, samodzielny
- autonomicznyacting on one's own
- samodzielnyacting on one's own
- autonomicznyself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Portuguese autónomo, autônomo
- autónomoacting on one's own
- autônomoacting on one's own
- autónomoself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- autônomoself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Romanian autonom
- autonomself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Russian самостоя́тельный, автоно́мный
- самостоя́тельный (samostojátelʹnyj)acting on one's own
- автоно́мный (avtonómnyj)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Slovak samosprávny, autonómny
- samosprávnyself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- autonómnyself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Spanish autónomo, autónomo
- autónomoacting on one's own
- autónomoself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Swedish självständig, autonom
- självständigacting on one's own
- autonomself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- självstyrandeself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Turkish otonom
- otonomself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Ukrainian самості́йний, автоно́мний
- самості́йний (samostíjnyj)acting on one's own
- автоно́мний (avtonómnyj)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Vietnamese tự trị
- tự trịself-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Yiddish אויטאָנאָם, אויטאָנאָמיש
- אויטאָנאָם (oytonom)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
- אויטאָנאָמיש (oytonomish)self-governing — see also independent, autonomic
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with autonomous
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
APA
autonomous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autonomous
MLA
“autonomous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autonomous. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “autonomous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autonomous.
Source: autonomous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.