What does "autonomy" mean?

1. (political self-rule) the right of a country or a region to govern itself. 2. (technical independence) the ability of a machine or computer system to operate on its own without a human controller.

autonomy

US //əˈtɑnəmi// UK //ɔːtˈɒnəmi// au·ton·o·my

1 political self-rule (n.)
C1 Advanced Formal Law

the right of a country or a region to govern itself.

the condition of self-government, especially when a region has the right to manage its own affairs within a larger state.

Example

The region was granted autonomy after years of peaceful protests.

Example

The central government granted the province partial autonomy, allowing local leaders to manage education and healthcare while the capital retained control over foreign policy.
- sovereignty
- self rule
- home rule
- colonialism
- occupation
2 technical independence (n.)
C1 Advanced Technical Computing

the ability of a machine or computer system to operate on its own without a human controller.

the capacity of a system to make decisions and execute actions without the direct involvement of a human operator.

Example

Engineers are working to improve the autonomy of self-driving cars.

Example

The latest generation of deep-sea drones features increased autonomy, enabling them to navigate complex underwater terrain without real-time instructions from the surface vessel.
- automation
- self sufficiency
- manual control

Origin

Borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomĭ́ā, “freedom to use its own laws, independence”), from αὐτόνομος (autónomos, “living under one's own laws, independent”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, “-y, -ia”, nominal suffix). By surface analysis, auto- (“self”) + -nomy (“a system of rules or laws about a particular field”).

Word family

Nounautonomy
Adjectiveautonomic