autonomy

Definition

The right or condition of self-government; freedom to act or function independently.

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτονομῐ́ᾱ (autonomĭ́ā, “freedom to use its own laws, independence”), from αὐτόνομος (autónomos, “living under one's own laws, independent”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, “-y, -ia”, nominal suffix). By surface analysis, auto- (“self”) + -nomy (“a system of rules or laws about a particular field”).

Example Sentences

• "But while assiduously dismissing any though of its own autonomy and proclaiming its victims its judges, it outdoes, in its veiled autocracy, all the excesses of autonomous art."
• "Financial independence and micro retirement have come to represent the autonomy I've created for myself, which is a powerful feeling."
• "...[T]he fact that a scientific theory finds applications to a wide variety of different phenomena does not imply anything about the autonomy of this theory from deeper physical laws."

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