▪ I. automatic, a.
(ɔːtəˈmætɪk)
[f. Gr. αὐτόµατ-ος (see automaton) + -ic.]
Of the nature of, or pertaining to, an automaton.
1. lit. Self-acting, having the power of motion or action within itself.
| 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 180 In the universe, nothing can be said to be automatic. 1876 Foster Phys. (1879) Introd. 2 We may therefore speak of the amœba as being irritable and automatic. (Note. Automatic..has recently acquired a meaning almost exactly opposite to that which it originally bore, and an automatic action is now by many understood to mean nothing more than an action produced by some machinery or other. In this work I use it in the older sense, as denoting an action of a body, the causes of which appear to lie in the body itself.) |
2. a. Self-acting under conditions fixed for it, going of itself. Applied
esp. to machinery and its movements, which produce results otherwise done by hand, or which simulate human or animal action, as an ‘automatic mouse.’
automatic direction finder, one in which the bearing is determined automatically;
automatic following (see
auto-following);
automatic landing (
Aeronaut.), a landing in which the pilot is guided by instruments and not by visual observation;
automatic machine,
spec. a slot machine;
automatic observer (
Aeronaut.) (see
quot. 1950);
automatic parachute (see
quot. 1951);
automatic pilot, a device in an aircraft for maintaining a set course and height (
cf. autopilot);
automatic stabilizer, a device in an aircraft for maintaining a set attitude;
cf. auto-stabilizer (
auto-1 b);
automatic teller (machine) (
orig. U.S.), a machine (
usu. linked to a computer) that automatically provides cash or performs other functions of a bank cashier when a special card is inserted;
cf. A.T.M.
s.v. A III. 1;
automatic train control, a system which in appropriate circumstances provides an audible warning in the driver's cab of a locomotive;
automatic transmission (
cf. transmission d), an automatic gear-changing system in a motor vehicle;
automatic volume control (
abbrev. A.V.C.), also
automatic frequency control (
abbrev. A.F.C.),
automatic gain control (
A.G.C.): devices used in radio for regulating a frequency or signal;
automatic writing (see 6).
| 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 61/2 Automatic direction-finder. 1951 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) iii. 27 Automatic direction finder, an airborne equipment designed to indicate automatically the bearing of a continuous-wave ground beacon relative to the bearing of the aircraft. |
| 1946 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engin. XCIII. iii. 17/1 Automatic-following radar..was of the essence of the A.A. gunnery successes against flying bombs. 1950 Gloss. Terms Radar (B.S.I.) 7 Automatic following, automatic aiming with the addition of automatic range measurement. |
| 1935 Proc. Inst. Radio Engineers XXIII. 1125 (title) Automatic Frequency Control. Ibid. 1133 (diagram) From AFC bias. |
| 1930 Proc. Inst. Radio Engineers XVIII. 633 Those components..which fade in and out..can be maintained at what approaches a constant level by means of the automatic gain control. 1942 Electronic Engin. XV. 216 A fault of most communications receivers is the inability to use A.G.C. when the B.F.O. is switched on. |
| 1938 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLII. 505 No mention had been made of the automatic landing, which seemed to represent the development of this science which was now engaging the attention of American experts. 1958 Times 17 Oct. 3/4 More than 2,000 completely automatic landings, some in thick fog and others in strong cross-winds, have been made. |
| 1903 Shaw Man & Superman i. 14 A box of matches will come out of an automatic machine when I put a penny in the slot. |
| 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 370 Automatic machinery [for]..the drilling and boring of metal. |
| 1936 Aircraft Engin. Dec. 330/2 An ‘automatic observer’ was not employed from considerations of weight. 1950 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) i. 41 Automatic observer, an apparatus for recording automatically the readings of a specified set of instruments in flight. |
| [1919 E. R. Calthrop's Aerial Patents Book 24 The ‘Guardian Angel’ Parachute, in all its different types, is instantly automatic.] 1951 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) iii. 13 Automatic parachute, a parachute which is withdrawn from its pack by a static line. |
| 1916 Aeronautics 13 Sept. 175 The Sperry automatic pilot. 1921 Ibid. 3 Feb. 76/2 The automatic pilot..enables the pilot of an aeroplane to leave the machine entirely to its own devices. 1944 ‘N. Shute’ Pastoral iv. 91 Marshall sat motionless at the controls, flying upon the automatic pilot. |
| 1842 W. Grove Corr. Phys. Forces 57 Automatic or self-registration of periodical phenomena. |
| 1909 Flight 17 July 434/2 The automatic stabiliser must..show a strong and immediate tendency to return to its proper normal working position under all conditions. 1950 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) i. 41 Automatic stabilizer, an automatic pilot adjusted to provide increased aerodynamic stability to the aircraft. |
| 1802 Paley Nat. Theol. iii, The difference between an animal and an automatic statue. |
| 1971 Amer. Banker 31 Aug. 8/3 Depositors seal their deposits in envelopes which are provided and insert them in the ‘automatic teller’, which flashes a Thank You sign and issues a receipt. 1977 Science 18 Mar. 1116/1 Automatic teller machines (ATM's) for commercial banking being developed are in various stages of pilot testing. 1983 N.Y. Times 15 May 15 About 1,300 automatic teller machines are now in use at American supermarkets. |
| a 1885 Mod. A Sewing Machine with automatic tension. |
| 1912 Railway Gaz. 12 July 40/2 Automatic Train Control Demonstration... The ramps are so electrically connected that either of two signals are given on the engine—a clear signal or a danger—..as the train proceeds. 1936 Economist 25 Jan. 178/2 Security against collisions of this kind can only be provided by a combination of track-circuiting..and automatic train control. |
| 1946 W. H. Crouse Automotive Mechanics xvii. 403 The Hydra-Matic drive, supplied on Cadillac and Oldsmobile cars as special equipment, combines the fluid drive with an automatic transmission that has four forward and one reverse speed. 1961 Autocar 29 Sept. 471/1 A conventional clutch and three-speed gearbox costs..less than an automatic transmission. |
| 1930 Proc. Inst. Radio Engineers XVIII. 321 The severe fluctuation of the signal..indicates the desirability of some form of automatic volume control. 1933 Pract. Wireless 25 Nov. 545 The way in which A.V.C. operates does not seem to be widely understood. |
b. Of a firearm: furnished with mechanism for successively and continuously loading, firing, and ejecting a cartridge as long as ammunition is supplied.
| 1877 Independent (U.S.) 5 July 20/2 Smith & Wesson's automatic revolvers. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 401/2 In the modern ‘automatic’ machine gun the loading, firing, extracting, and ejecting are all performed automatically by the gun itself. Ibid. XXXII. 649/2 No nation has yet armed her forces with an automatic rifle. Ibid. 658/2 The Colt Automatic Pistol, calibre ·38. |
c. Of a telephone exchange or system: operated by automatic switches (
opp. manual). Also, designating a telephone instrument fitted with a
dial.| 1879 M. D. Connolly et al. U.S. Pat. 222,458, We..have jointly invented a certain new and useful Automatic Telephone-Exchange..so constructed and arranged that any member of the exchange may..place himself in direct communication with any disengaged member of the exchange. 1914 W. Atkins Princ. Automatic Telephony 1 In an automatic system of telephony it is required that the subscriber shall be able to obtain connection with any other subscriber without the intervention of an operator at the exchange. 1934 Discovery Mar. 58/2 The automatic telephone..has not been an unqualified blessing. 1955 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. VIII. 433/2 In an automatic exchange, the connexion to the required line is made by mechanical selectors. |
3. Of animal actions: Like those of mechanical automatons; not accompanied by volition or consciousness, ‘mechanical.’
| 1748 Hartley Observ. Man i. Introd., The Motions are called automatic from their Resemblance to the Motions of Automata, or Machines, whose Principle of Motion is within themselves. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. i. ii. §18 The winking of the eyes is essentially automatic. 1871 tr. Pouchet's Universe 106 The automatic nature of insects has only been maintained by those who have never observed them. |
4. Not characterized by active intelligence; merely mechanical.
| 1843 J. Martineau Chr. Life (1876) 60 To rest in mere automatic regularities. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. II. iii. vi. 95 Mechanical and automatic acts of devotion. |
5. Relating to automatons;
automatical.
| c 1860 Wraxall tr. R. Houdin v. 50 He gave me the automaton I was to repair..I began my first automatic labours. |
6. Spiritualism. Of or pertaining to automatism (sense 4); performed by unconscious, subconscious, or occult action.
| 1883 W. S. Moses Spirit-Teachings Introd. 1 Automatic Writing is a well-known method of communication with the invisible world of what we loosely call Spirit. 1884 Proc. Soc. Psychical Research II. 226, I wished to know if I were myself an automatic writer, or so-called writing medium. 1889 Barkworth in Proc. Soc. Psychical Research Dec. 85 It is only the execution and not the initiation of the movements which is automatic, the suggestion for them being external to the subject's own personality. 1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. I. viii. 209 Certain trance-subjects who were also automatic writers. 1934 Archit. Rev. LXXV. 215/1 Mr. Cooper's picture, on the other hand, might almost be a piece of automatic writing. |
7. Art. Applied to a form of painting performed by the technique of ‘automatism’ (see
automatism 5).
| 1951 A. Hill Painting out Illness xi. 74, I deny that true automatic pictures can be produced while both the eye and hand in subconscious conjunction are said to be ‘employed’. 1960 E. H. Gombrich Art & Illusion x. 358 The modern painter may use what he calls ‘automatic painting’, the creation of Rorschach blots, in order to stimulate the mind..towards fresh inventions. |
▪ II. automatic, n. (
ɔːtəˈmætɪk)
[f. prec.] 1. Abbreviation of
automatic pistol,
gun, etc.: see
automatic a. 2 b.
| 1902 Sears Catal. (ed. 112) 305/2 Forehand Perfection Automatic, small frame, rebounding lock. 1914 G. Atherton Perch of Devil ii. vii. 269 I've even bought an automatic. I suppose..I should call it a gun. 1920 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 154/1 A German automatic hung at his side. 1945 Diamond Track (Army Board, N.Z.) 35/1 Everything was thrown into it—grenades, automatics, bayonets, and rifle butts. |
2. A machine, tool, etc., that is operated automatically.
| 1909 in Webster. 1914 Machinery (Engin. Ed.) XX. 468 (title) Making shrapnel cases on the Cleveland automatic. 1917 Amer. Machinist XLVII. 17 Automatics used advantageously in the making of starter parts. 1921 Conquest II. 125 The full advantage of automatics will only be appreciated when a large number of automatic exchanges have been erected. 1930 Engineering 7 Mar. 309/2 The machine tool display..covers automatics of various types, bending machines, sheet-metal working machines, drills [etc.]. 1949 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LIII. 428/2 Failures of the automatics may be more dangerous than the human failures they are designed to prevent. |
3. A motor vehicle,
esp. a car, which has automatic transmission.
orig. U.S.| 1949 Newsweek (U.S.) 24 Oct. 65/1 (heading) Ford's automatic. 1966 Motoring Which? Oct. 124 The only automatic we have tested is the little Dutch-built Daf. 1984 Which? Car Suppl. Oct. 17/2 The BX range has recently been expanded with the inclusion of a diesel version, and there will be estates and automatics soon. |