Etymology Borrowed from New Latin automaticus, from Classical Latin automatum (“automaton”) + -icus (adjectival suffix), from Ancient Greek αὐτόματον (autómaton), neuter of αὐτόματος (autómatos, “self-moving, moving of oneself, self-acting, spontaneous”), from αὐτός (autós, “self, myself”) + μέμαα (mémaa, “to wish eagerly, strive, yearn, desire”). The original pronunciation, apparently with stress on the second syllable, was after the ultimate Greek base.
Capable of operating without external control or intervention.
The automatic clothes washer was a great labor-saving device.
"But you know of the automatic card-player?" […] Carrados had heard more than once casual allusions to a wonderful mechanical contrivance that played cards with discrimination.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:
2
Done out of habit or without conscious thought.
The reaction was automatic: flight!
Absent-minded doodling is a form of automatic art.
1 more example
"I don't know why! Sometimes I feel like a girl! Sometimes a guy! I don't know why I feel that way! I just do! Always have! I can't remember not feeling this way! How do you explain something as natural and automatic to you as breathing?!"2021 November 10, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Wednesday, Nov 10, 2021:
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Necessary, inevitable, prescribed by logic, law, etc.
Spitting at another player means an automatic red card.
4
Firing continuously as long as the trigger is pressed until ammunition is exhausted.
Of a firearm such as a machine gun
Fully automatic weapons cannot be legally owned by private citizens in the US, except in very special circumstances, as by private security companies.
5
Of a handgun An autoloader; a semi-automatic or self-loading pistol, as opposed to a revolver or other manually actuated handgun, which fires one shot per pull of the trigger; distinct from machine guns.
The US Army adopted John Browning's M1911 pistol as its sidearm, chambered in .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol).
From a little hand-bag he extracted his automatic pistol, which he put upon the mantelpiece.1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
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Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, SciencesOf a local variable Automatically added to and removed from the stack during the course of function calls.
Automatic variables are created on the stack. They are valid only from the point where they are declared to the end of the function.2012, Robert Clair, Learning Objective-C 2.0: A Hands-on Guide:
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Mathematics, SciencesOf a group Having one or more finite-state automata.
Etymology Borrowed from New Latin automaticus, from Classical Latin automatum (“automaton”) + -icus (adjectival suffix), from Ancient Greek αὐτόματον (autómaton), neuter of αὐτόματος (autómatos, “self-moving, moving of oneself, self-acting, spontaneous”), from αὐτός (autós, “self, myself”) + μέμαα (mémaa, “to wish eagerly, strive, yearn, desire”). The original pronunciation, apparently with stress on the second syllable, was after the ultimate Greek base.
1
A car with an automatic transmission; the transmission itself.
I never learned to drive a stick. I can only drive an automatic.
2
A semi-automatic pistol.
The G-men raiding the speakeasy were equipped with .45 automatics, while the local policemen were carrying revolvers and shotguns.
"I told him that if my automatic was not a spook-stopper, nothin' else would serve."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
1 more example
'The automatic under his pillow gave the lie to that statement.'1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 9, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 262: