Etymograph

English

automat

Automat comes from German Automat ‘automaton, machine’, from Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτος ‘self-willed, unbidden’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mn̥tósreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*mətósreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEαὐτόμᾰτος‘self-willed, unbidden’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEαὐτόμᾰτον
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEautomatum
  7. Germanc. 1650–presentAutomat‘automaton, machine’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1986automat

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mn̥tósreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*mətósreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEαὐτόμᾰτος‘self-willed, unbidden’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEαὐτόμᾰτον
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEautomatum
  7. Germanc. 1650–presentAutomat‘automaton, machine’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1986automat

Earliest quotation: 1986, Philip Langdon, Orange Roofs: “People from all levels of society ate in Automats…”

The story

Borrowed from German Automat, as the system was originally developed in Germany in the late 19th c.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think’

money, music, mind, amount, mention, mountain, museum, comment, remain, mouth, monster, mount, min, permanent, monitor, monetary, monk, mint, demonstration, monument, dementia, mentor, monte, imminent, monastery, amnesty, maya, muse, mosaic, eminent, summon, menace, ming, mont, muster, monstrous, prominence, amnesia, mandarin, remnant, 125 more

through Proto-Indo-European *mn̥tós

mental, menton, 8 more

Today it means

noun A vending machine for food.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *men- / automat

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