Definition of "autonomous" []

• Not controlled by others or by outside forces; independent: an autonomous judiciary; an autonomous division of a corporate conglomerate. (adjective)
• Independent in mind or judgment; self-directed. (adjective)
• Independent of the laws of another state or government; self-governing. (adjective)
• Of or relating to a self-governing entity: an autonomous legislature. (adjective)
• Self-governing with respect to local or internal affairs: an autonomous region of a country. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The team coined the phrase "autonomous checkout clerk," which is exactly what follows, as the robot locates the bar code by spinning the object in its hands, reading the numeric code, and then putting the item in a bag."
• "The term autonomous system refers to a network that is within the control of a single company or organization."
• "We use the term autonomous geographies to define '… those spaces where there is a desire to constitute non-capitalist, collective forms of politics, identity and citizenship, which are created through a combination of resistance and creation, and the questioning and challenging of dominant laws and social norms.'"