What does automatics mean?
'Automatics' is the plural of the noun 'automatic', denoting machines or mechanisms that perform their tasks on their own once set in motion, without the need for constant human operation. The word surfaces most often in industrial settings — where engineers might speak of a production line run by automatics rather than by hand — and in everyday motoring talk, where 'automatics' commonly refers to cars fitted with automatic gearboxes, especially in British English. It can also describe self-loading firearms that cycle rounds mechanically after each shot. Derived ultimately from Greek roots meaning 'acting of oneself', the word belongs to a family that includes 'automatic', 'automation', and 'automaton'. While not a glamorous term, 'automatics' neatly captures a defining feature of modern life: the quiet substitution of self-regulating machinery for manual labour, a shift that has reshaped factories, vehicles, and homes alike since the mid-twentieth century.
nounThe plural of 'automatic': machines or devices that operate by themselves without direct human control. In informal British usage especially, 'automatics' can refer to cars with automatic gearboxes or to self-loading firearms.
- Machines or devices that operate automatically, without continuous human intervention (plural of 'automatic').
- Informal term for cars equipped with automatic transmission.
- Self-loading firearms that chamber each round automatically.
"The factory floor was staffed almost entirely by automatics, with only a handful of technicians overseeing the line."
"The plant's automatics ran around the clock, requiring only periodic supervision from the night engineers."
"She prefers driving automatics because stop-and-go city traffic makes a manual gearbox exhausting."
'Automatics' is already the standard plural of the noun 'automatic'; it takes no further plural form.
"The workshop serviced both manuals and automatics."
In British motoring slang, asking whether a hire car is 'a manual or an automatic' often gets shortened to just 'an automatic' — making 'automatics' one of those rare plurals that names an entire category of everyday machine.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does automatics come from?
'Automatics' comes from 'automatic', which entered English in the late eighteenth century from French 'automatique' and New Latin 'automaticus', both built on the Greek 'automatos', meaning 'acting of itself' or 'self-moving'. The Greek root combines 'autos' ('self') with 'matos' (from a verb meaning 'to strive or act'), and it also underlies 'automaton', 'autonomy', and 'automation'. The plural 'automatics' arose as speakers needed to refer collectively to such self-acting devices, a need that grew sharply with twentieth-century automation of industry and the spread of automatic-transmission vehicles.
Related word forms
How automatics is actually used
'Automatics' is simply the plural of the noun 'automatic'. It appears most naturally in technical, industrial, and automotive contexts; in casual speech people more often say 'automatics' for cars than for other machinery, particularly in British English.
Easily confused with automatics
'Automatic' is the singular form and also the adjective meaning self-operating or done without thought, while 'automatics' is the plural noun referring to multiple such devices.