automat

See also: Automat

English

An automat (sense 2) in Berlin (1896)

Alternative forms

• Automat

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔtəmæt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

automat (plural automats)

1. A vending machine for food.
3. (chiefly historical) A cafeteria consisting of vending machines.
   • 1986, Philip Langdon, Orange Roofs, Golden Arches: The Architecture of American Chain Restaurants‎^[1], Alfred A. Knopf:

     People from all levels of society ate in Automats at least occasionally. Movies often cast their cosmopolitan stars dropping coins in Horn & Hardart's slots, and tourists felt compelled to visit an Automat.

   • 1991 April 11, James Barron, “Last Automat Closes, Its Era Long Gone”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 December 2022:

     The Automat, whose gleaming chrome-and-glass machines brought high-tech eating to a low-tech era, has gulped down its last coin and served up its last helping of macaroni, baked beans and kaiser rolls.
     The last Automat in the country, in midtown Manhattan, closed on Tuesday, a victim of changing eating habits. […] There were 30 Automats in New York when Mr. Stern was a young Western Union bicycle messenger stopping in for lemon meringue pie between deliveries.

   • 2009, David Freeland, Automats, Taxi Dances, and Vaudeville: Excavating Manhattan’s Lost Places of Leisure, NYU Press, →ISBN, page 172:

     While automats were hailed by the thrifty populace as being “waiter-free” and—even more appealing—“tip-free,” someone had to cook the food, stock the little compartments, keep the floors clean, bus the tables, refill the sugar and condiments, and exchange larger coinage into nickels, since patrons rarely entered with enough nickels for a meal.

Related terms

• automatic
• automation
• automatization
• automaton

Translations

vending machine

• Polish: automat (pl) m

cafeteria

• German: Automatenrestaurant (de) n
• Polish: automat (pl) m

Albanian

Noun

automat m

1. automaton (machine, robot, or formal system)

Adjective

automat (feminine automate)

1. automatic; automated

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from German Automat, from Ancient Greek αὐτόματος (autómatos). By surface analysis, auto- +‎ -mat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈau̯tomat]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -omat
• Hyphenation: au‧to‧mat

Noun

automat m inan (relational adjective automatický or automatový)

1. automaton
2. vending machine, automat
3. (gambling) gambling machine, slot machine, fruit machine

   Synonyms: hrací automat, herní automat

4. (weaponry) automatic firearm
5. (obsolete) buffet

   Synonym: bufet

Declension

Declension of automat (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	automat	automaty
genitive	automatu	automatů
dative	automatu	automatům
accusative	automat	automaty
vocative	automate	automaty
locative	automatu	automatech
instrumental	automatem	automaty

Derived terms

• bankomat
• konečný automat m
• plnoautomat
• poloautomat

Related terms

• automatičnost
• automatika
• automatizace
• automatizační
• automatizmus
• automatizovat

See also

• -mat

Further reading

• “automat”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “automat”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “automat”, in Akademický slovník současné češtiny, 2012–2026, slovnikcestiny.cz
• “automat”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Danish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτος (autómătos).

Noun

automat c (singular definite automaten, plural indefinite automater)

1. interactive kiosk, vending machine, slot machine
2. automaton

Declension

Declension of automat

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	automat	automaten	automater	automaterne
genitive	automats	automatens	automaters	automaternes

Derived terms

• billettautomat
• spilleautomat

Related terms

• automatvåben

References

• “automat” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑu̯toːmɑt/, /ˈoːtoːmɑt/
• Hyphenation: au‧to‧mat

Noun

automat m or f (plural automatten, diminutive automatje n)

1. car mat

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aʉ.tu.maːt/, [æʉ.tʊ.ˈmaːt]

Noun

automat m (definite singular automaten, indefinite plural automater, definite plural automatene)

1. vending machine

Derived terms

• billettautomat
• spilleautomat

References

• “automat” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Ancient Greek αὐτόματον (autómaton), neuter of αὐτόματος (autómatos, “self moving, self willed”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æʉtʊˈmɑːt/

Noun

automat m (definite singular automaten, indefinite plural automatar, definite plural automatane)

1. an automaton
   • 1908, Rasmus Løland, Den store automaten:

     "Skulde segja at frøkna ikkje er heime," tok gjentungen berre upp atter som ein automat og stod ferdig til aa slaa att døri.

     "I was to say she is not at home," the girl simply repeated like an automaton, ready to close the door.

2. a slot machine (gambling machine, vending machine and similar)

Derived terms

• billettautomat

References

• “automat” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewder.?

Proto-Indo-European *sóder.?

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewder.

Ancient Greek αὖ (aû)

Ancient Greek τόν (tón)?

Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós)

Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-)

Proto-Indo-European *men-

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *mn̥tós

Proto-Hellenic *mətós

Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτος (autómătos)der.

German Automatbor.

Polish automat

Borrowed from German Automat. By surface analysis, auto- +‎ -mat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /awˈtɔ.mat/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔmat
• Syllabification: au‧to‧mat

Noun

automat m inan

1. vending machine, automat

   automat sprzedający ― vending machine

2. arcade game
3. payphone
4. (colloquial, firearms) submachine gun, SMG (type of short range machine gun that is carried as a personal weapon and uses pistol ammunition)

   Synonyms: peem, pistolet maszynowy, rozpylacz

5. (colloquial) automaton, robot (a person operating without thinking)
6. (colloquial) automatic transmission
7. reflex (something done without thinking, on autopilot)

Declension

Declension of automat

	singular	plural
nominative	automat	automaty
genitive	automatu	automatów
dative	automatowi	automatom
accusative	automat	automaty
instrumental	automatem	automatami
locative	automacie	automatach
vocative	automacie	automaty

Derived terms

adjectives

• automatowy
• automatyczny
• automatyzacyjny

adverbs

• automatem
• automatycznie
• z automatu

nouns

• automatyczna sekretarka
• automatyczność
• automatyczny pilot
• automatyk
• automatyka
• automatyzacja
• automatyzm
• ołówek automatyczny

suffix

• -mat

verbs

• automatyzować
• zautomatyzować

Further reading

• automat in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• automat in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French automate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.u.toˈmat/

Adjective

automat m or n (feminine singular automată, masculine plural automați, feminine/neuter plural automate)

1. automatic, self-acting, inertial

Declension

Declension of automat

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	automat		automată	automați	automate
	definite	automatul		automata	automații	automatele
genitive- dative	indefinite	automat		automate	automați	automate
	definite	automatului		automatei	automaților	automatelor

Noun

automat n (plural automate)

1. automaton
2. vending machine
3. golem
4. clockwork

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	automat	automatul	automate	automatele
genitive-dative	automat	automatului	automate	automatelor
vocative	automatule		automatelor

Further reading

• “automat”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /autǒmaːt/
• Hyphenation: a‧u‧to‧mat

Noun

autòmāt m inan (Cyrillic spelling ауто̀ма̄т)

1. automaton
2. vending machine, automat

Declension

Declension of automat

	singular	plural
nominative	autòmāt	automati
genitive	automáta	automata
dative	automatu	automatima
accusative	automat	automate
vocative	automate	automati
locative	automatu	automatima
instrumental	automatom	automatima

Swedish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek αὐτόματος (autómatos, “self-willed; self-moving”). First attested in 1783.

Noun

automat c

1. automaton [since 1783]
   • 1836, Karl Anders af Kullberg, En dansös’ bekännelser‎^[3], page 78:

     Jag – en talande automat i dessa lycksriddares händer! Åh, jag känner dem!

     Me – a talking automaton in the hands of these knights of fortune! Oh, I know them!

2. An automatic machine that dispense items or provide service (often in exchange for money) [since 1895]
   1. vending machine
   2. kiosk; an unattended stand for the automatic dispensation of tickets

Declension

Declension of automat

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	automat	automats
	definite	automaten	automatens
plural	indefinite	automater	automaters
	definite	automaterna	automaternas

Related terms

• automatik
• automatisk

References

• “automat”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “automat”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)