auton

Coined by Robert Holmes in 1969, from a contraction of automaton.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.tɒn/

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• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɑ.tɑn/, /ˈɔ.tɑn/

auton (plural autons)

1. (science fiction) A machine or robot, usually in the form of a living being, designed to follow a precise sequence of instructions.
   • 1974, Terrance Dicks, Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion, page 55:

     Not far away in the woods the Auton had been standing motionless under a tree. It was shaped like a man but it was not human.

   • 1986, Vernor Vinge, Marooned in Realtime:

     Juan made seven attempts to pervert the auton. One involved twelve hundred years of careful observation, timing the failure of various subsystems, maneuvering the auton into a position where he might take control and get transportation to resources in near space.

   • 2002, Sean McMullen, Voyage of the Shadowmoon, page 461:

     "The Metrologan Order built the auton that was Ninth. How can you be so sure that she was not so well crafted that she really did have her own will?"

• tauon

auton

1. genitive singular of auto

• Tauno, ontua, tauon, tuona

From Latin autumnus.

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auton m (plural autons)

1. autumn