Autonomous

How to spell autonomous

10 letters · 4 syllables

13 of the 132 people asked to spell autonomous in Spelling Garden got it wrong the first time.

The most common mistake is autonimous. The letters people get wrong are highlighted.

autonimous autonomous

What people typed instead

• autonimous5 people

How to pronounce autonomous

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does autonomous mean?

1. adjectiveActing or functioning independently, with the freedom to govern or operate without outside control.

Autonomous in a sentence

• The region became largely autonomous after the new treaty was signed.

• The company is testing an autonomous delivery vehicle that drives itself.

Where does autonomous come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek autonomos, which described a city or state that lived under its own laws rather than those imposed by a foreign ruler. It was assembled from autos, meaning 'self', and nomos, meaning 'law' or 'custom', so the literal sense was 'self-governing'. English adopted it in the 1700s, at first chiefly in political writing about states and provinces that managed their own affairs. Over time the meaning broadened from governments to people who act independently, and more recently to machines and vehicles that operate without direct human control. The nomos root also survives in words like 'economy' (originally household management) and 'astronomy', which can help you remember the single 'n' and the 'nom' spelling at the centre of autonomous.

How the word is built

• auto- (self)
• nom (law, rule)
• -ous (adjective suffix: having the quality of)

People who misspell autonomous also struggle with

Of the Spelling Garden players who got autonomous wrong the first time, this is how many also got each of these wrong.

• connoisseur 100% of them got it wrong