# automatic

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˌɔː.təˈmæt.ɪk/ · frequency rank #3,862

## Definitions
1. Capable of operating without external control or intervention.
2. Done out of habit or without conscious thought.
3. Necessary, inevitable, prescribed by logic, law, etc.
4. Firing continuously as long as the trigger is pressed until ammunition is exhausted.
5. An autoloader; a semi-automatic or self-loading pistol, as opposed to a revolver or other manually actuated handgun, which fires one shot per pull of the trigger; distinct from machine guns.
6. Automatically added to and removed from the stack during the course of function calls.
7. Having one or more finite-state automata.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewder.?
Proto-Indo-European *sóder.?
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewder.
Ancient Greek αὖ (aû)
Ancient Greek τόν (tón)?
Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós)
Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-)
Proto-Indo-European *men-
Proto-Indo-European *mn̥tós
Proto-Hellenic *mətós
Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτος (autómătos)
Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτον (autómăton)der.
Classical Latin automatum
New Latin automaticusbor.
English automatic
Borrowed from New Latin automaticus, from Classical Latin automatum (“automaton”) + -icus (adjectival suffix), from Ancient Greek αὐτόματον (autómaton), neuter of αὐτόματος (autómatos, “self-moving, moving of oneself, self-acting, spontaneous”), from αὐτός (autós, “self, myself”) + μέμαα (mémaa, “to wish eagerly, strive, yearn, desire”). The original pronunciation, apparently with stress on the second syllable, was after the ultimate Greek base.

## Easily confused with
- **automaton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/automatic-vs-automaton)
- **automation** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/automatic-vs-automation)
- **aromatic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aromatic-vs-automatic)
- **automate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/automate-vs-automatic)
- **automata** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/automata-vs-automatic)
- **automated** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/automated-vs-automatic)
- **asthmatic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/asthmatic-vs-automatic)
- **autocratic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/autocratic-vs-automatic)

## Common misspellings (12)
`atuomatic`, `auotmatic`, `autmoatic`, `autoamtic`, `automaitc`, `automatci`, `automaticc`, `automattic`, `autommatic`, `automtaic`, `auttomatic`, `uatomatic`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/automatic