# autonomous

Pronunciation: US say "aw-TAH-nuh-muhs" /ɔˈtɑnəməs/; UK say "aw-TON-uh-muhs" /ɔːˈtɒnəməs/

## Adjective

1. Of a country, region or body, governing itself rather than being ruled by another.
   - Simple: Ruling itself, without being controlled by another country or group.
   - _The region has been autonomous since the treaty, electing its own parliament and running its own schools._
   - _Each autonomous province sets its own taxes and runs its own police force._
2. Acting independently, on one's own; of a child, acting without being bound by the rules of parents or guardians.
   - Simple: Acting on your own, or, for a child, acting without following rules set by the adults who care for them.
   - _Our manager trusts us to be autonomous and rarely checks how we organize our day._
   - _By fifteen he was fairly autonomous, making his own plans without checking with his parents._
3. Of a Celtic verb form, used with no subject to leave the agent unknown or unstated; it does the work of the English passive, but the thing acted on stays the object.
   - Simple: Of a verb form in Celtic languages, having no subject, so the doer is unknown or not named.
   - _Irish uses an autonomous verb form in many places where English would reach for the passive._
   - _The grammar's chapter on autonomous forms explains how to report an action without naming anyone behind it._

## Origin

Formed from autonomy + the suffix -ous.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/autonomous (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).