autopilot

See also: Autopilot

English

A boat autopilot

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew

Proto-Indo-European *tó-

Proto-Hellenic *autós

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewder.

Ancient Greek αὖ (aû)

Ancient Greek τόν (tón)

Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós)

Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-)

Proto-Indo-European *men-

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *mn̥tós

Proto-Hellenic *mətós

Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτος (autómătos)

Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτον (autómăton)der.

Classical Latin automatum

New Latin automaticusbor.

English automaticclip.

English auto-

English pilot

English autopilot

From auto- + pilot.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔːtəʊˌpaɪlət/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔtoʊˌpaɪlət/, [ˈɔ.ɾoʊˌpaɪlət]
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɑtoʊˌpaɪlət/, [ˈɑ.ɾoʊˌpaɪlət]

Noun

autopilot (countable and uncountable, plural autopilots)

1. (aviation, nautical) A mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being.

   I set the autopilot to due south, so I could get some rest.

2. (by extension, figuratively) A state of mind where one no longer thinks about doing one's actions, but acts mechanically.

   I've been doing this 12 hours non-stop, and am so hungry and tired that I've stopped thinking: I'm now on autopilot.

   • 2021 March 31, Benjamin Lee, “Made for Love review – Black Mirror-esque comedy needs an upgrade”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     But while the wackiness gets exasperating fast (a running joke about Hazel’s father, played by Ray Romano on autopilot, having a sex doll for a wife is even unfunnier than it sounds), Milioti works overtime to keep us invested.

Related terms

• automatic

Translations

guiding system

Bulgarian: автопило́т (bg) m (avtopilót) Chinese: Mandarin: 自動駕駛儀 / 自动驾驶仪 (zìdòng jiàshǐyí), 自動駕駛 / 自动驾驶 (zìdòng jiàshǐ) Danish: autopilot (da) c Dutch: automatische piloot m Finnish: automaattiohjaus (fi), autopilotti (fi) French: pilote automatique (fr) m German: Autopilot (de) m Italian: pilota automatico (it) m, autopilota (it) m Japanese: オートパイロット (ōtopairotto) Korean: 오토파일럿 (otopailleot) Macedonian: автопи́лот m (avtopílot) Malay: autopandu, autojuruterbang (of aircraft) Norwegian: Bokmål: autopilot m Nynorsk: autopilot m Polish: automatyczny pilot m, autopilot (pl) m Portuguese: piloto automático (pt) m Romanian: pilot automat (ro) m, autopilot (ro) m Russian: автопило́т (ru) m (avtopilót) Spanish: piloto automático m, autopiloto (es) m Swedish: autopilot (sv) c Turkish: otopilot m Ukrainian: автопіло́т (uk) m (avtopilót)

state of mind

Bulgarian: автопило́т (bg) m (avtopilót) Hungarian: automatizmus (hu), gépiesség (hu)

Verb

autopilot (third-person singular simple present autopilots, present participle autopiloting, simple past and past participle autopiloted)

1. (intransitive, of a vehicle) To pilot itself; to drive or travel automatically.

See also

• cruise control
• go through the motions

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

auto- +‎ pilot, from English autopilot

Noun

autopilot m (definite singular autopiloten, indefinite plural autopiloter, definite plural autopilotene)

1. (aviation, nautical) an autopilot

References

• “autopilot” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

auto- +‎ pilot, from English autopilot

Noun

autopilot m (definite singular autopiloten, indefinite plural autopilotar, definite plural autopilotane)

1. (aviation, nautical) an autopilot

References

• “autopilot” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew

Proto-Indo-European *tó-

Proto-Hellenic *autós

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewder.

Ancient Greek αὖ (aû)

Ancient Greek τόν (tón)

Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós)

Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-)der.

Polish auto-

French pilotebor.

Polish pilot

Polish autopilot

From auto- + pilot. First attested in 1927.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aw.tɔˈpi.lɔt/
• Rhymes: -ilɔt
• Syllabification: au‧to‧pi‧lot

Noun

autopilot m animal

1. (aviation, nautical, navigation, technology) autopilot

   Synonym: automatyczny pilot

Declension

Declension of autopilot

	singular	plural
nominative	autopilot	autopiloty
genitive	autopilota	autopilotów
dative	autopilotowi	autopilotom
accusative	autopilota	autopiloty
instrumental	autopilotem	autopilotami
locative	autopilocie	autopilotach
vocative	autopilocie	autopiloty

Further reading

• “autopilot”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “autopilot”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French autopilote.

Noun

autopilot m (plural autopiloți)

1. autopilot

Declension

	singular	plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	autopilot	autopilotul	autopiloți	autopiloții
genitive-dative	autopilot	autopilotului	autopiloți	autopiloților
vocative	autopilotule	autopiloților

Swedish

Etymology

auto- +‎ pilot

Noun

autopilot c

1. an autopilot

Declension

Declension of autopilot

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	autopilot	autopilots
definite	autopiloten	autopilotens
plural	indefinite	autopiloter	autopiloters
definite	autopiloterna	autopiloternas