auto

1 of 3

noun

au·​to ˈȯ-(ˌ)tō How to pronounce auto (audio)
ˈä-
plural autos

auto

2 of 3

adjective

auto-

3 of 3

combining form

variants or before a vowel aut-
1
: self : same one
autobiography
autosuggestion
2
: automatic : self-acting
autopilot

Examples of auto in a Sentence

Noun the auto gave people a level of mobility that they had never known before
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press, 5 Nov. 2024 Industry focus on driver-assist Companies in China’s autos industry are increasingly looking at driver-assist tech as a way to stay competitive in the market. Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
The election is a result of the agreement reached between the federal government and the union following the fallout from the long-running corruption scandal that sent former union officials and ex-auto executives to prison for misusing worker training funds, among other misdeeds. Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press, 28 Feb. 2023 So which makes the best semi-auto shotgun? Phil Bourjaily, Field & Stream, 25 Jan. 2021 See all Example Sentences for auto 

Word History

Etymology

Noun

by shortening

Adjective

by shortening

Combining form

borrowed from Greek, combining form of autós "self, the same" (also as third person pronoun), of uncertain origin

Note: For autós R. Beekes posits as the Indo-European forerunner *h2eu̯- "again" + *to- "that" (see that entry 1); *h2eu̯- alone is the source of Greek "again, another time, in turn, next" (Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009). G. E. Dunkel, who accepts Indo-European *a as a vowel and does not believe that all words must begin with a consonant, subsumes the first element of autós under *au̯- "away, off" (*au̯-tó- would hence originally have been a deictic, "the one over there") and subsumes Greek under *h2u-, by-form of *h2o- "with it, at it, and, also" (Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme, Heidelberg, 2014). Older etymological proposals (as a link between au- in autós and Sanskrit ásuḥ "life") are summarized by E. Schwyzer in Griechische Grammatik (Munich, 1990 [1938]), pp. 613-14.

First Known Use

Noun

1899, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1876, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of auto was in 1876

Dictionary Entries Near auto

Cite this Entry

“Auto.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/auto. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

auto

1 of 2 noun
au·​to
ˈȯt-ō,
ˈät-
plural autos

auto-

2 of 2
see aut-

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