automat was borrowed from German Automat ('automatic machine, vending machine'), from Ancient Greek automatos ('self-acting'), from autos ('self') + a derivative of the root men- ('to think, be moved'). Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the noun sense is "a restaurant where food is served from coin-operated machines", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as automatic, automaton, automate, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Ancient Greek automatos, Ancient Greek autos, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.