Automatise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To convert a process or system so it operates automatically without manual intervention
2. To enable a task or function to run by itself through mechanical or electronic means
3. To change a procedure so it is performed automatically, reducing the need for human control

Etymology: "Automatise" is the British spelling of "automatize," and its history is a plain one: it is "automate" with the suffix "-ise" added. "Automate" itself was formed from "automatic," which in turn comes from the Greek "automatos," meaning "self-acting" or "acting of its own will," built from "autos" (self) and a root related to "mentos" (thinking or willing). The original sense was literal: something that moved by its own internal mechanism rather than by an outside push. The suffix does the grammatical work. "-ise" (or "-ize") turns a noun or adjective into a verb meaning "to make into, or to subject to," so "automatise" means to make something operate by itself. The same pattern gives "modernise" from "modern" and "legalise" from "legal." The verb therefore describes a process rather than a thing: a task is handed over from human hands to a self-acting mechanism, which is exactly the original Greek idea of acting of one's own accord, now applied to machinery and software.

Synonyms: automate, mechanize, computerize, systematize, streamline

Antonyms: manualize, deautomate