Etymograph

English

automaton

Automaton comes from Ancient Greek αὐτόματος ‘self moving, self willed’, and goes back to 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 BCEαὐτόματος2autómatos‘self moving, self willed’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEαὐτόματον2autómatonneuter of αὐτόματος
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1838automaton2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek αὐτόματος
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English automaton
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1838, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, (please specify the page): “—to the young man who filled a place at…”.

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 BCEαὐτόματοςWiktionary, English automatonautómatos‘self moving, self willed’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEαὐτόματονWiktionary, English automatonautómatonneuter of αὐτόματος
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1838automatonWiktionary, English automaton. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1838, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, (please specify the page): “—to the young man who filled a place at…”

Linked words

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

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

through Proto-Indo-European *mn̥tós

mental, menton, 7 more

Today it means

noun A machine or robot designed to follow a precise sequence of instructions.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “automaton”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek αὐτόματος. 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- / automaton

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