Automata

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɔːˈtɒmətə/

Definitions

1. Constructs that execute prescribed sequences of operations Devices that operate automatically according to a set framework or rules Programs or machines that complete tasks without direct human control
2. Mechanical devices designed to perform specific functions automatically according to internal instructions ; theoretical models used in computer science to represent computation and state transitions
3. Machines that function independently by following predefined mechanical or logical sequences ; conceptual frameworks that describe systems with discrete states and transitions

Etymology: "Automata" is the plural of "automaton," and the singular is the older and more interesting word. Its Greek source, "autómatos," meant "self-moving" or "self-willed," built from "autós" (self) and a root connected to "ménos" (spirit or force). The Greeks applied it to things that acted on their own accord, so a thing that moved without being pushed by anyone counted as automatic in the original sense, long before anyone built a clockwork figure. The English word arrived as a near twin of "automat," a doublet that came into the language through a different route and took on a different sense. Where "automat" settled into the name for self-service restaurants with coin-operated compartments, "automaton" kept the older idea of a figure that moves by its own inner mechanism. Both words descend from the same Greek adjective, which is why one can name a vending café and a mechanical puppet with forms that look so alike.