01 a. Having an inherent power of action or motion.
-
1.
Having an inherent power of action or motion.“Nothing can be said to be automatic.” — Sir H. Davy.
-
2.
Pertaining to, or produced by, an automaton; of the nature of an automaton; self-acting or self-regulating under fixed conditions; operating with minimal human intervention; -- esp. applied to machinery or devices in which certain things formerly or usually done by hand are done by the machine or device itself; as, the automatic feed of a lathe; automatic gas lighting; an automatic engine or switch; an automatic mouse; an automatic transmission. The opposite of manual.
-
3.
Not voluntary; not depending on the will; mechanical; controlled by the autonomic nervous system; without conscious control; as, automatic movements or functions. The opposite of voluntary.(Physiol.)“Unconscious or automatic reasoning.” — H. Spenser.
-
4.
like the unthinking functioning of a machine.
Phrases & compounds
Automatic arts —
such economic arts or manufacture as are carried on by self-acting machinery.
Syn.
reflex(prenominal), reflexive,involuntary — Syn. -- automaton-like, automatonlike, machinelike, machine-like, robotlike.