'automatonlike' originates from English, specifically from the noun 'automaton' (ultimately from Greek 'automatos'), where 'auto-' meant 'self' and '-matos' related to 'moving/acting', combined with the English suffix '-like' (from Old English 'līc') meaning 'like' or 'having the body of'.

'automatos' (Greek) gave rise to Latin/Medieval forms and then to English 'automaton'; the productive English suffix '-like' (from Old English 'līc') was added to form the adjective 'automatonlike'.

Initially 'automatos' meant 'self-moving'; over time the stem entered English as 'automaton' meaning a mechanical self-moving device, and 'automatonlike' came to mean 'resembling such a machine' or 'mechanical in behavior'.