autonomy
Pluralautonomies (some meanings)
- 1The freedom to govern yourself or make your own choices without others controlling you.
Like being allowed to run your own room the way you want, with no one telling you what to do.
The new law gave the region greater autonomy over its own schools.
Teenagers often want more autonomy as they grow older.
Similarindependence, freedom, self-government, self-determination, self-rule
Oppositedependency, servitude
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- 2The ability to make your own choices freely, with good information and no pressure from others.
Like picking your own meal from a menu after reading what is in each dish.
Doctors must respect a patient's autonomy when explaining treatment options.
Real autonomy means choosing freely, not just doing what a friend tells you to do.
Similarindependence, freedom, self-determination
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- 3A country or area that governs itself and makes its own decisions.
Like a club that runs its own meetings even though it belongs to a bigger group.
The island became an autonomy with its own parliament.
Several autonomies within the country set their own school rules.
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- 4The ability of a machine or system to act and decide on its own, without a person controlling it.
Like a robot vacuum that cleans the floor by itself while you are out.
The robot's autonomy lets it find its own way around the room.
Engineers tested how much autonomy the drone needed to land by itself.
Similarindependence
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- 5The standing of a church that runs itself, though its top bishop is chosen by the head of its parent church.
Like a branch store that runs its own daily work but has its manager picked by head office.
The small church was granted autonomy by the larger one it had grown from.
Under autonomy, the local bishops handle most matters themselves.
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Practice
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Origin
From Ancient Greek, from a word meaning 'living under one's own laws, independent'. It combines auto- ('self') and -nomy ('a system of laws').