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Meaning of AUTOMATON

Pronunciation:  o'tâmu`tân

WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. [n]  a mechanism that can move automatically
  2. [n]  someone who acts or responds in a mechanical or apathetic way; "only an automaton wouldn't have noticed"
 
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 Synonyms: golem, robot, zombi, zombie
 
 See Also: android, anomaly, humanoid, mechanical man, mechanism, unusual person

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
\Au*tom"a*ton\, n.; pl. L. {Automata}, E.
{Automatons}. [L. fr. Gr. ?, neut. of ? self-moving; ? self +
a root ma, man, to strive, think, cf. ? to strive. See
{Mean}, v. i.]
1. Any thing or being regarded as having the power of
   spontaneous motion or action. --Huxley.
         So great and admirable an automaton as the world.
                                               --Boyle.
         These living automata, human bodies.  --Boyle.
2. A self-moving machine, or one which has its motive power
   within itself; -- applied chiefly to machines which appear
   to imitate spontaneously the motions of living beings,
   such as men, birds, etc.
 
Computing Dictionary
 
 Definition: 

(Plural automata) A machine, robot, or formal system designed to follow a precise sequence of instructions.

Automata theory, the invention and study of automata, includes the study of the capabilities and limitations of computing processes, the manner in which systems receive input, process it, and produce output, and the relationships between behavioural theories and the operation and use of automated devices.

See also cellular automaton, finite state machine.

 

 

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