Meaning
automaton, robot
- mechanical device designed to mimic human or animal actions
- person acting mechanically without thought, initiative, or emotion
In a sentence
Lavora dodici ore al giorno e si muove ormai come un automa.
He works twelve hours a day and now moves like a robot.
Nel museo della scienza c'è un antico automa del Settecento.
In the science museum there is an antique eighteenth-century automaton.
Non rispondere come un automa, dimmi cosa pensi davvero.
Don't reply like a machine, tell me what you really think.
Word forms (2)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| automa | masculine · singular |
| automi | masculine · plural |
Usage notes
- Masculine ending in -a; plural ends in -i: 'gli automi'.
- Often used in similes to depict someone exhausted or operating purely out of habit.