automate

verb

au·​to·​mate ˈȯ-tə-ˌmāt How to pronounce automate (audio)
automated; automating

transitive verb

1
: to operate by automation
2
: to convert to largely automatic operation
automate a process

intransitive verb

: to undergo automation
automatable adjective

Examples of automate in a Sentence

The company recently automated its filing process. a factory that has yet to be automated a factory that has yet to automate When companies automate, employees lose jobs.
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.
That includes tariff rates; Gaia’s Tariff Discovery tool automates the process behind determining the active tariff rate to import goods into a client’s country of interest. Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 21 Feb. 2025 From streamlining content creation to automating workflows, this technology has the potential to enhance efficiency, boost productivity, and provide valuable insights. New Atlas, 20 Feb. 2025 The rapid improvement of the technology has been accompanied by dire warnings that A.I. could soon automate away millions of jobs — and software developers have been singled out as prime targets. Steve Lohr, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025 To help automate the application and verification processes, Georgia uses digital tools to collect wage and work histories of employees at large companies as well as those who are self-employed. Margaret Coker, ProPublica, 19 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for automate

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from automation

Note: The formation of automation from automatic entry 1 (or automaton) is idiosyncratic. The -at- of automatic is blended with the suffix -ation, resulting in a word that is no longer divisible into base and suffix. The element -at- mimics, as it were, the -at- of -ate entry 4 and -ation, though in origin it has no relation to it. Another approach to this curious derivation might be to take it as a blend of automatic and operation, though there is no evidence that the coiner had this in mind. A more regular way to derive a verb from automatic would be automatize, and in fact such a word is attested (see automatize, but with a different sense), along with a corresponding noun automatization. In a discussion on automation with the editors of the Atlantic Monthly the mathematician Norbert wiener was said to take "a firm stand on nomenclature": "'Automation,' he says, is barbarous; let it be 'automatization' or nothing" ("Science and Industry," Atlantic Monthly, vol. 195, no. 6 [June, 1955], p. 14). See also the note at automation.

First Known Use

1952, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of automate was in 1952

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Cite this Entry

“Automate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/automate. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

automate

verb
au·​to·​mate ˈȯt-ə-ˌmāt How to pronounce automate (audio)
automated; automating
1
: to operate by automation
2
: to convert to mainly automatic operation

More from Merriam-Webster on automate

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