What does automat mean?
An automat is a self-operating device, but the word is best known for a distinctive type of restaurant popular in the first half of the twentieth century. In an automat, customers selected prepared food from behind small glass doors by inserting coins into slots, dispensing entirely with waiters and table service. The format flourished in Europe and reached its peak in the United States, above all through New York's Horn & Hardart chain, which became a cultural icon of urban life before giving way to fast food. Today the restaurant sense survives mainly as a term of historical nostalgia, evoking gleaming chrome and nickel-plated efficiency. More broadly, automat can describe any machine that performs a task automatically, though this usage has largely been absorbed by words like 'machine' and 'device'. The word derives from the Greek 'automatos', meaning acting of one's own will.
A self-service restaurant in which food and drink are dispensed from coin-operated compartments behind glass doors.
"She remembered buying coffee and apple pie from the automat near Grand Central during her first week in New York."
Chiefly historical or nostalgic in modern use, strongly associated with American restaurants of the early-to-mid twentieth century.
A self-operating machine or device that performs a task automatically.
"The museum displayed a nineteenth-century automat that played music when a coin was inserted."
Standard plural, used when referring to multiple such machines or restaurants.
"By the 1950s, automats could be found across Manhattan."
New York's famous automats let you grab a slice of pie by dropping a nickel into a slot — no waiter required.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of automat
The word 'automat' comes from the Greek 'automatos', meaning 'acting of itself' or 'self-moving'. It was borrowed through European languages, with the German 'Automat' playing an important role in spreading the term for both vending machines and self-service restaurants. The restaurant sense became especially prominent in early twentieth-century America, popularized by chains such as Horn & Hardart in Philadelphia and New York. It shares its Greek root with related English words including 'automatic', 'automation', and 'autonomous'.
How automat is actually used
The restaurant sense is strongly associated with early-to-mid 20th-century America, especially New York's Horn & Hardart chain; it now often carries nostalgic connotations. The machine sense is broader and less common today.
Easily confused with automat
'Automaton' refers to a mechanical figure or robot-like machine, while 'automat' is primarily a self-service restaurant or a general automatic device.