autonomous

adjective

au·​ton·​o·​mous ȯ-ˈtä-nə-məs 

1

a

: having the right or power of self-government

an autonomous territory

b

: undertaken or carried on without outside control : self-contained

an autonomous school system

2

a

: existing or capable of existing independently

an autonomous zooid

b

: responding, reacting, or developing independently of the whole

an autonomous growth

3

: controlled by the autonomic nervous system

4

: of, relating to, or marked by autonomy

autonomously adverb

Synonyms

• free
• freestanding
• independent
• self-governed
• self-governing
• self-ruling
• separate
• sovereign
• sovran

Choose the Right Synonym for autonomous

free, independent, sovereign, autonomous mean not subject to the rule or control of another.

free stresses the complete absence of external rule and the full right to make all of one's own decisions.

you're free to do as you like

independent implies a standing alone; applied to a state it implies lack of connection with any other having power to interfere with its citizens, laws, or policies.

the colony's struggle to become independent

sovereign stresses the absence of a superior power and implies supremacy within a thing's own domain or sphere.

separate and sovereign armed services

autonomous stresses independence in matters pertaining to self-government.

in this denomination each congregation is regarded as autonomous

Examples of autonomous in a Sentence

Native American nations are regarded as autonomous in many respects and thus not subject to a number of state and local laws.

Recent Examples on the Web

Latinum, the second-place winner, provides payment middleware enabling Model Context Protocol builders to monetize their services, allowing AI agents to manage budgets and make autonomous payments. —Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025

What To Know In the UK, these complications have resulted in transport regulators pushing a deadline for autonomous vehicle guidelines back a year, despite industry leaders saying their cars will be road-ready before then. —Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 May 2025

Waymo’s autonomous Jaguar I-PACE cars have been ferrying paying customers around San Francisco since August 2023, and are now doing rides or testing in Austin, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Miami, and other cities. —Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 26 May 2025

Baku, for its part, now positioned itself as a more autonomous actor, capable of engaging with Russia, Turkey, and the West on its own terms. —Zaur Shiriyev, Foreign Affairs, 26 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Greek autónomos "self-governing, independent" (from auto- auto- + -nomos, adjective derivative of nómos "custom, convention, law") + -ous — more at nomothetic

First Known Use

1673, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Phrases Containing autonomous

• autonomous sensory meridian response

Rhymes for autonomous

• anonymous
• economise
• eponymous
• synonymous

Kids Definition

autonomous

adjective

au·​ton·​o·​mous ȯ-ˈtän-ə-məs 

1

: having autonomy : self-governing

2

: existing independent of anything else

autonomously adverb

Medical Definition

autonomous

adjective

au·​ton·​o·​mous ȯ-ˈtän-ə-məs 

1

: of, relating to, or marked by autonomy

2

a

: not forming a part (as does an embryo or seed) in the developmental sequence of an organism

b

: responding, reacting, or developing independently of the whole

a tumor is an autonomous growth

3

: under control of the autonomic nervous system

autonomously adverb