auto
auto — noun
- autosingular
- autosplural
1. a passenger car; an everyday short form of 'automobile' used mostly in American
a passenger car; an everyday short form of 'automobile' used mostly in American English, especially in compounds about the car industry.
Wairimu parked her auto in front of the diner on Main Street.
countable noun: an auto / his auto
The auto show in Detroit drew thousands of visitors last weekend.
compound: auto show
Jin works at an auto repair shop near the train station.
Grandpa still calls every car an auto, even the new electric ones.
- car
the standard everyday word in both British and American English
- automobile
more formal and technical; common in industry contexts
- motor vehicle
very formal, used in legal or official documents
用法筆記
Common in American English, often in compounds (auto show, auto industry, auto insurance). British speakers usually say 'car' instead.
常見錯誤
auto — adjective
- autopositive
- more autocomparative
- most autosuperlative
1. working on its own without a person controlling each step; a short form of 'auto
working on its own without a person controlling each step; a short form of 'automatic', often used before nouns like 'pilot', 'mode', or 'reply'.
Kalani switched the camera to auto mode before taking the family photo.
attributive: auto + noun (mode)
The pilot flipped on auto pilot once the plane reached cruising altitude.
compound: auto pilot
Dr. Rashida set up an auto reply on her email while she was on holiday.
The new washing machine has an auto setting for delicate clothes.
- manual
operated by hand or by a person, step by step
用法筆記
Used before a noun (attributive only). You cannot say 'the system is auto'; say 'the system is automatic' instead.
常見錯誤
auto — prefix
1. a word part added to the start of another word to show that something happens to
a word part added to the start of another word to show that something happens to or by itself, without help from a person; for example, autobiography (a life story written by the same person whose life it tells).
Ines is reading the autobiography of a famous Taiwanese chef.
auto- + biography: written by oneself
The new law gave the island region greater autonomy over its schools.
auto- + -nomy: governing oneself
Many cars now park themselves through autonomous driving systems.
The president signed an autograph for a young fan outside the hotel.
- self-
native English equivalent prefix, often interchangeable: self-portrait vs autobiography
文法句型
auto- + noun
auto- + adjective
用法筆記
Forms closed compounds (no hyphen) in most modern uses: autobiography, autonomy, autograph. Hyphenated 'auto-' appears mainly in newer or technical coinings.
auto — combining form
1. a word part used in technical and scientific terms to mean 'oneself' or 'the sam
a word part used in technical and scientific terms to mean 'oneself' or 'the same one'; for example, in 'autoimmune', the body's defence system attacks its own cells.
Dr. Wu explained that lupus is an autoimmune disease affecting the joints and skin.
auto- meaning 'self' in medical term 'autoimmune'
The clinic does autografts, taking healthy skin from the patient's own thigh.
auto- + graft: tissue from the same person
Some plants reproduce through autogamy, fertilising themselves without another flower.
After death, autolysis begins as the body's own enzymes break down its tissues.
- self-
everyday English equivalent; 'self-' joins common words while 'auto-' joins Greek-rooted scientific terms
- allo-
scientific prefix meaning 'other', as in 'allograft' (tissue from a different person)
文法句型
auto- + noun root
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 2: this 'auto-' means 'self / same person', often in biology and medicine. Sense 2 means 'self-acting / automatic' and shows up in machines and software.
2. a word part added to verbs and nouns to show that a machine or program does the
a word part added to verbs and nouns to show that a machine or program does the action by itself, with little or no human input; for example, autocorrect changes spelling for you while you type.
The phone's autocorrect changed 'duck' to a much funnier word again.
auto- + correct: software does it for you
Pilots rely on autopilot during long flights across the Pacific.
auto- + pilot: machine flies on its own
Jin turned on autosave so the report would not vanish if the laptop crashed.
Many shops use an autoresponder to thank customers for their messages.
- automatic
the free-standing adjective with the same idea; 'auto-' compresses it into a single word
- manual
describes the same task done step by step by a person
文法句型
auto- + verb
auto- + noun
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this 'auto-' is about machines doing things by themselves (autopilot, autosave). Sense 1 is about a person or organism acting on itself (autoimmune, autobiography).