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
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
This powerful synergy enhances detection, tracking, classification, and identification while also enabling autonomous drone swarm operations, including self-organizing collaboration.
—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2025
Companies that create a culture of transparent, continuous, autonomous trust will lead the next wave of innovation.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2025
Musk’s strategy from the beginning was to build an autonomous driving system powered by a neural network and cameras.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Far from the constructive ambiguity of the 1992 Consensus, Lai breathlessly argued that Taiwan and China are distinct, autonomous nations, drawing on historical, legal, and identity-based arguments linking the island’s heritage to Austronesian culture, rather than Chinese.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for autonomous
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Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2025
Companies that create a culture of transparent, continuous, autonomous trust will lead the next wave of innovation.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2025
Musk’s strategy from the beginning was to build an autonomous driving system powered by a neural network and cameras.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Far from the constructive ambiguity of the 1992 Consensus, Lai breathlessly argued that Taiwan and China are distinct, autonomous nations, drawing on historical, legal, and identity-based arguments linking the island’s heritage to Austronesian culture, rather than Chinese.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for autonomous
Cite this Entry
“Autonomous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autonomous. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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
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