autonomy
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomíā, “freedom to use its own laws, independence”), from αὐτόνομος (autónomos, “living under one's own laws, independent”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā, “-y, -ia”, nominal suffix). Surface analysis auto- (“self”) + -nomy (“a system of rules or laws about a particular field”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ɔːˈtɒn.ə.mi/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ɔˈtɑ.nə.mi/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "Canada" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ɑˈtɑ.nə.mi/
Audio (US): (file)
- Rhymes: -ɒnəmi
Noun
autonomy (countable and uncountable, plural autonomies)
- (uncountable) The right or condition of self-government; freedom to act or function independently.
- 1951, Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia[1], Verso, published 2005, page 200:
- But while assiduously dismissing any though of its own autonomy and proclaiming its victims its judges, it outdoes, in its veiled autocracy, all the excesses of autonomous art.
- Synonym: sovereignty
- Antonyms: dependency, nonautonomy, inoperability
- (government, countable) A self-governing country or region.
- (philosophy, uncountable) The capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision.
- (mechanics, uncountable) The capacity of a system to make a decision about its actions without the involvement of another system or operator.
- 1992, Steven Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory, Pantheon Books, page 41:
- ...[T]he fact that a scientific theory finds applications to a wide variety of different phenomena does not imply anything about the autonomy of this theory from deeper physical laws.
- Antonyms: heteronomy, incapacity
- (Christianity, uncountable) The status of a church whose highest-ranking bishop is appointed by the patriarch of the mother church, but which is self-governing in all other respects. Compare autocephaly.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
self-government
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capacity for individual decision
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in mechanics
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References
- “autonomy”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “autonomy”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms prefixed with auto-
- English terms suffixed with -nomy
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɒnəmi
- Rhymes:English/ɒnəmi/4 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Government
- en:Philosophy
- en:Mechanics
- en:Christianity