autonomy
Meaningliving by one's own law
Common meaning: the right to govern oneself
- autoself; the sameLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 135 · scan
- nomcustom, law; that which is assignedLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 535 · scan
- ynoun ending: study, state or act
‘self’ + ‘custom, law’ → autonomy
Journey through time
- auto — Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós) “self; the same” (path traced)
- nom — Greek νόμος “custom, law; that which is assigned” (path traced)
- Greekαὐτός (autós) + νόμος‘self + custom, law’
- Englishautonomy‘the right to govern oneself’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós) ‘self; the same’ + Greek νόμος ‘custom, law; that which is assigned’.
Did you know (Greek autos, "self",…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry αὐτός (autós), p. 135 · dictionary scan
Did you know (Greek nomos, "custom,…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry νόμος, p. 535 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry ANOMALY, p. 25 · dictionary scan
Roots
- αὐτός (autós) Ancient Greek “self; the same”
- νόμος Greek “custom, law; that which is assigned”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app