autonomy

C1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ɔˈtɑ.nə.mi/ UK /ɔːˈtɒn.ə.mi/ See IPA manual

Freq #25888

Meanings

1

noun
The freedom to make your own decisions and act independently.

Working from home gave her much more autonomy over her daily schedule.
2

noun
The right of a country or region to govern itself.

The region has been seeking greater autonomy from the central government.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the freedom to make your... self-directionindependence

2 noun · the right of a country or... liberty self-government

Word family

Forms autonomies

Derived forms autonomationautonomicautonomistnonautonomysemiautonomy

Related forms autonomousdysautonomia

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

limited autonomy
A restricted degree of freedom to govern oneself or make independent decisions.

Adjective + noun

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomĭ́ā, “freedom to use its own laws, independence”), from αὐτόνομος (autónomos, “living under one's own laws, independent”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, “-y, -ia”, nominal suffix). By surface analysis, auto- (“self”) + -nomy (“a system of rules or laws about a particular field”).

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# autonomy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɔˈtɑ.nə.mi/
**IPA (UK):** /ɔːˈtɒn.ə.mi/
**Frequency rank:** 25888

## Meanings
1. The freedom to make your own decisions and act independently.
2. The right of a country or region to govern itself.

## Examples
- Working from home gave her much more autonomy over her daily schedule.
- The region has been seeking greater autonomy from the central government.

## Derived Forms
- autonomation
- autonomic
- autonomist
- nonautonomy
- semiautonomy

## Related Forms
- autonomous
- dysautonomia

## Roots and Affixes
- Affix: auto- - self

## Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomĭ́ā, “freedom to use its own laws, independence”), from αὐτόνομος (autónomos, “living under one's own laws, independent”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, “-y, -ia”, nominal suffix). By surface analysis, auto- (“self”) + -nomy (“a system of rules or laws about a particular field”).

## AI Etymology
Autonomy is borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomĭ́ā, “freedom to use its own laws, independence”), from αὐτόνομος (autónomos, “living under one's own laws, independent”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, “-y, -ia”, nominal suffix). By surface analysis, auto- (“self”) + -nomy (“a system of rules or laws about a particular field”). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. Current senses include the freedom to make your own decisions and act independently and the right of a country or region to govern itself. The wider family includes derived forms such as autonomation, autonomic, autonomist, nonautonomy, and semiautonomy and related words such as autonomous and dysautonomia.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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