■ adjective
1》 (of a device or process) working by itself with little or no direct human control.
↘(of a firearm) self-loading and able to fire continuously.
2》 done or occurring without conscious thought.
3》 (of a penalty or legal sanction) necessary and inevitable, as a result of a fixed rule or particular set of circumstances.
■ noun an ~ machine or device.
Derivatives
~ally adverb
~ity noun
automatization or automatisation noun
automatize or automatise verb
Origin
C18: from Gk automatos (see automaton ) + -ic .