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auto- . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
auto- , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
auto- in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
auto- you have here. The definition of the word
auto- will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
auto- , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
aut- ( used before a vowel )
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek αὐτο- ( auto- , “ self- ” ) .
Prefix
auto-
Reflexive , regarding or to oneself .
auto- + biography → autobiography
auto- + erotic → autoerotic
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
regarding oneself
Afrikaans: outo-
Albanian: auto-
Aragonese: auto-
Armenian: ինքն (hy) ( inkʻn ) , ավտո- ( avto- )
Asturian: auto-
Azerbaijani: avto-
Basque: auto- (eu)
Belarusian: аўта- ( aŭta- )
Bulgarian: авто- ( avto- )
Catalan: auto- (ca)
Czech: auto- (cs)
Danish: auto- , selv-
Dutch: auto- (nl)
Esperanto: aŭto-
Estonian: auto- (et)
Finnish: auto- (fi) , itse- , oma- (fi)
French: auto- (fr)
Galician: auto- (gl)
Georgian: ავტო- ( avṭo- )
German: auto- (de)
Greek: αυτο- (el) ( afto- )
Ancient: αὐτό- ( autó- )
Hebrew: אוֹטוֹ־ ( oto- )
Hindi: आत्म (hi) ( ātma )
Hungarian: auto- (hu)
Ido: auto-
Indonesian: auto- , swa-
Interlingua: auto-
Italian: auto- (it)
Kazakh: авто- ( avto- )
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: oto- (ku)
Kyrgyz: авто- ( avto- )
Latin: auto-
Latvian: auto-
Lithuanian: auto-
Macedonian: авто- ( avto- )
Malay: swa- (ms)
Maltese: awto-
Norwegian:
Bokmål: selv- , auto-
Nynorsk: auto-
Occitan: auto-
Persian: اتو (fa) ( oto- ) , خود (fa) ( xod- )
Polish: auto- (pl) , samo- (pl)
Portuguese: auto- (pt)
Romanian: auto- (ro)
Cyrillic: ауто- ( auto- )
Russian: авто- (ru) ( avto- ) , само- (ru) ( samo- ) , себе- ( sebe- )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ауто-
Roman: auto-
Sicilian: autu-
Slovak: auto-
Slovene: avto-
Spanish: auto- (es)
Swedish: auto- (sv) , själv- (sv)
Tagalog: awto- , sari- , saril-
Tajik: авто- ( avto- )
Turkish: oto- (tr)
Turkmen: awto-
Ukrainian: авто- (uk) ( avto- )
Uzbek: avto- (uz)
Yiddish: אויטאָ־ ( oyto- )
Etymology 2
Clipping of automatic .
Prefix
auto-
Automatic .
auto- + focus → autofocus
auto- + loader → autoloader
auto- + walk → autowalk
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 3
Clipping of automobile , itself equivalent to auto- ( “ self ” ) + mobile .
Prefix
auto-
Self-propelled .
auto- + cab → autocab
auto- + car → autocar
Relating to cars or the driving of cars.
auto- + cross → autocross
auto- + -phile → autophile
Derived terms
Translations
relating to cars or the driving of cars
Derived terms
References
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτο- ( auto- ) .
Pronunciation
Prefix
auto-
auto- ( regarding oneself )
auto- ( relating to cars )
Derived terms
Further reading
“auto- ”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies , 2007 April
“auto- ”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana , Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana , 2025.
“auto-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià , Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua .
“auto-” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear , Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Czech
Pronunciation
Prefix
auto-
auto- ( regarding oneself )
Synonym: sebe-
auto- + cenzura → autocenzura
Derived terms
Further reading
Danish
Etymology
From Ancient Greek αὐτο- ( auto- ) .
Prefix
auto-
self
autobiografi , autofiktion
automatic
autozoom , autopilot
cars
autoskade , autoværksted
Derived terms
References
Dutch
Etymology
Internationalism (see English auto- ), ultimately from Ancient Greek αὐτο- ( auto- ) .
Prefix
auto-
auto- ( forms words pertaining to the self )
auto- ( forms words pertaining to the automation )
Usage notes
Unlike in English, words relating to cars starting with auto- (e.g. autoweg ) are not seen to be formed by prefixation but by regular compounding with the noun auto .
Derived terms
Finnish
Etymology
Internationalism (see English auto- ), ultimately from Ancient Greek αὐτο- ( auto- ) .
Pronunciation
Prefix
auto-
( in loanwords ) auto- , self- ( regarding oneself )
Synonyms: oma- , itse-
auto biografia ― auto biography
auto nomia ― auto nomy
( in loanwords ) auto- ( automatic )
Synonyms: automaatti- , automaattinen
auto pilotti ― auto pilot
Usage notes
In Finnish, the prefix auto- is chiefly used with loanwords, see the examples above.
Derived terms
Further reading
Anagrams
French
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek αὐτο- ( auto- ) , from αὐτός ( autós , “ self ” ) .
Pronunciation
Prefix
auto-
auto- ( regarding oneself )
auto- ( automatic )
auto- ( relating to cars )
Usage notes
Auto- is sometimes added to reflexive verbs in order to stress the reflexiveness of the action. When this is done, the reflexive pronoun is always used as well:
Je m'auto -sabote. ― I sabotage myself. (literally, “I self -sabotage myself. ”)
Derived terms
Galician
Etymology
From Ancient Greek αὐτο- ( auto- ) .
Prefix
auto-
auto- , self-
Derived terms
From
.
Further reading
German
Pronunciation
Prefix
auto-
auto-
Derived terms
Hungarian
Etymology
From Ancient Greek αὐτός ( autós , “ self ” ) .
Pronunciation
Prefix
auto-
auto- ( regarding oneself )
auto- ( automatic )
Derived terms
References
Indonesian
Etymology
From Dutch auto- , from Ancient Greek αὐτός ( autós , “ self ” ) .
Pronunciation
Prefix
auto-
auto- : regarding oneself
Derived terms
Further reading
Italian
Etymology 1
From Ancient Greek αὐτός ( autós , “ self ” ) .
Prefix
auto-
( highly productive ) auto- , self- ( regarding oneself; by oneself )
( highly productive ) auto- , self- ( automatic )
( mathematics ) eigen-
( rare ) homo- ( same )
Derived terms
Further reading
auto-1 in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line , Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Etymology 2
From auto , automobile .
Prefix
auto-
auto- ( relating to cars )
Derived terms
Further reading
auto-2 in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line , Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Ancient Greek αὐτός ( autós , “ self ” ) .
Prefix
auto-
auto-
Derived terms
References
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Ancient Greek αὐτός ( autós , “ self ” ) .
Prefix
auto-
auto-
Derived terms
References
Polish
Etymology
Ancient Greek αὐτός ( autós ) Polish auto-
Derived from Ancient Greek αὐτο- ( auto- ) .
Pronunciation
Prefix
auto-
auto- , as relating to oneself
Synonym: samo-
auto- + biografia → autobiografia
auto- , automatic
Synonym: samo-
auto- + pilot → autopilot
auto- , as relating to cars
Synonym: samo-
auto- + alarm → autoalarm
Derived terms
Further reading
auto- in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτός ( autós , “ self ” ) .
Pronunciation
Prefix
auto-
self- ; auto- ( done by or directed at oneself )
auto- + ódio ( “ hatred ” ) → auto-ódio ( “ self-hatred ” )
auto- ( automatic )
auto- + foco ( “ foco ” ) → autofoco ( “ autofocus ” )
auto- ( relating to automobiles )
auto- + carro ( “ car ” ) → autocarro ( “ bus ” )
( Brazil , linear algebra ) eigen- ( relating to eigenvectors and eigenvalues )
Derived terms
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτο- ( auto- ) .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /auto/
Syllabification: au‧to-
Prefix
auto-
auto-
drive-in
Derived terms
Further reading