'automaton' (plural 'automata') originates from Greek, specifically the word 'αὐτόματον' (automaton), where 'auto-' meant 'self' and 'matos' (from 'manthanein' roots) related to 'moving' or 'acting of itself'.

'automaton' passed into Latin as 'automatum', then into Medieval and New Latin and later into English from French/Latin usage; the English plural 'automata' reflects the original Greek/Latin plural formation.

Initially it meant 'a thing that moves by itself' (a self-moving object); over time it came to mean mechanical devices that operate automatically and, in modern technical contexts, abstract computing machines.