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automaton

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automaton

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Automaton  \Au*tom"a*ton\,  n.;  pl  L.  {Automata},  E. 
  {Automatons}.  [L.  fr  Gr  ?,  neut.  of  ?  self-moving;  ?  self  + 
  a  root  ma  man,  to  strive,  think,  cf  ?  to  strive.  See 
  {Mean},  v.  i.] 
  1.  Any  thing  or  being  regarded  as  having  the  power  of 
  spontaneous  motion  or  action  --Huxley. 
 
  So  great  and  admirable  an  automaton  as  the  world. 
  --Boyle. 
 
  These  living  automata,  human  bodies.  --Boyle. 
 
  2.  A  self-moving  machine,  or  one  which  has  its  motive  power 
  within  itself  --  applied  chiefly  to  machines  which  appear 
  to  imitate  spontaneously  the  motions  of  living  beings, 
  such  as  men,  birds,  etc 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  automaton 
  n  1:  someone  who  acts  or  responds  in  a  mechanical  or  apathetic 
  way  "only  an  automaton  wouldn't  have  noticed"  [syn:  {zombi}, 
  {zombie}] 
  2:  a  mechanism  that  can  move  automatically  [syn:  {robot},  {golem}] 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  automaton 
 
  mathematics,  algorithm>  (Plural  automata)  A 
  machine,  {robot},  or  formal  system  designed  to  follow  a 
  precise  sequence  of  instructions. 
 
  Automata  theory,  the  invention  and  study  of  automata,  includes 
  the  study  of  the  capabilities  and  limitations  of  computing 
  processes,  the  manner  in  which  systems  receive  input,  process 
  it  and  produce  output,  and  the  relationships  between 
  behavioural  theories  and  the  operation  and  use  of  automated 
  devices. 
 
  See  also  {cellular  automaton},  {finite  state  machine}. 
 
  (1996-04-23)




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