'autoconverter' originates from modern English, formed as a compound of 'auto-' (from Greek 'autos', where 'autos' meant 'self') and 'converter' (from Latin 'convertere', where 'convertere' meant 'to turn around').

'converter' changed from the Latin word 'convertere' to Old French 'convertir' and Middle English 'convert', eventually becoming the English noun 'converter'; 'auto-' was borrowed from Greek 'autos' into English as a productive prefix meaning 'self', and the two elements combined in modern English to form 'autoconverter'.

Initially 'converter' in Latin meant 'to turn around', but over time in English it came to mean 'one that changes or transforms (something)'; combined with 'auto-' the modern compound came to mean 'a tool that converts automatically'.