Etymograph

English

automat

Automat comes from German Automat ‘automaton, machine’, from Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτος ‘self-willed, unbidden’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-1‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mn̥tós1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*mətós1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEαὐτόμᾰτος2‘self-willed, unbidden’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEαὐτόμᾰτον3
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEautomatum2
  7. Germanc. 1650–presentAutomat4‘automaton, machine’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1986automat4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek αὐτόματος
  2. 2 Wiktionary, German Automat
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin automatum
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English automat
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1986, Philip Langdon, Orange Roofs: “People from all levels of society ate in Automats…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek αὐτόματος‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mn̥tósWiktionary, Ancient Greek αὐτόματοςreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*mətósWiktionary, Ancient Greek αὐτόματοςreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEαὐτόμᾰτοςWiktionary, German Automat‘self-willed, unbidden’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEαὐτόμᾰτονWiktionary, Latin automatum
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEautomatumWiktionary, German Automat
  7. Germanc. 1650–presentAutomatWiktionary, English automat‘automaton, machine’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1986automatWiktionary, English automat. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1986, Philip Langdon, Orange Roofs: “People from all levels of society ate in Automats…”

The story

Borrowed from German Automat, as the system was originally developed in Germany in the late 19th c.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think’

money, music, mind, amount, mention, mountain, museum, comment, remain, mouth, monster, mount, min, permanent, monitor, monetary, monk, mint, demonstration, monument, dementia, mentor, monte, imminent, monastery, amnesty, maya, muse, mosaic, eminent, summon, menace, ming, mont, muster, monstrous, prominence, amnesia, mandarin, remnant, 121 more

through Proto-Indo-European *mn̥tós

mental, menton, 7 more

Today it means

noun A vending machine for food.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “automat”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek αὐτόματος, German Automat, Latin automatum. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *men- / automat

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