automation

Definition of Automation

(noun) The act or process of replacing human workers with machines so that tasks can be performed automatically.

Example of Automation

• home automation (also called domotics)

Etymology of Automation

• Typically attributed to Ford Motor Company Vice President Delmar S. Harder in 1948.

Automation Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: au·to·ma·tion

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˌɑdoʊˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/
• British English – /ˌɔːtəˈmeɪʃn/

Usage Notes

• Plural: automations
• Not to be confused with mechanization, which is using machinery and equipment to replace human or animal labor to improve accuracy and speed.
• Also called automatic control.

Related Video

Additional Information

• Word origin of “automation” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Zuboff, Shoshana. 1988. In the Age of the Smart Machine: the Future of Work and Power. New York: Basic Books.

Related Terms

• capitalism
• culture lag
• digital divide
• e-readiness
• knowledge gap
• neo-Luddite
• planned obsolescence
• technological diffusion
• technology

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Works Consulted

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Farlex. (N.d.) TheFreeDictionary.com: Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus. Farlex. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/).

Ferrante, Joan. 2011. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Automation

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “automation.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 25, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/automation/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

automation. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/automation/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “automation.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 25, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/automation/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“automation.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/automation/>.