Etymology of 'automatic' -- also used by Grice in his account of actions as free

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THIS IS VINTAGE GRICEAN/GRECIAN Word, with interesting etymology.

automatic
1812, "self-acting, moving or acting on its own," from Gk. automatos, used of the gates of Olympus and the tripods of Hephaestus (also "without apparent cause, by accident"), from autos "self" (see auto-) + matos "thinking, animated" (see automaton). Of involuntary animal or human actions, from 1748, first used by English physician and philosopher David Hartley (1705-1757). As an adjective, in reference to a type of firearm, from 1877; specifically of machinery that imitates human-directed action from 1940. As a noun meaning "automatic weapon" it is recorded from 1902; meaning "motorized vehicle with automatic transmission" is from 1949.

automation
1948, in the manufacturing sense, coined by Ford Motor Co. Vice President Delmar S. Harder, from automatic + -tion. Earlier (1838) was automatism, which meant "quality of being automatic" in the classical sense.


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This cited by Doyle, 'automaton':

automaton
1610s, from L. automaton (Suetonius), from Gk. automaton, neut. of automatos "self-acting," from autos "self" (see auto-) + matos "thinking, animated, willing," from PIE *mn-to-, from base *men- "to think" (see mind (n.)).