| 释义 |
▪ I. † ˈautomate, n. and a. Obs.
[a. F. automate (Cotgr.), ad. L. automaton, -um.]
A. n. = automaton.
a1649Drummond of Hawthornden James III Wks. 61 Taken with admiration of watches, clocks, dials, automates. a1751Bolingbroke Hum. Knowl. i. (R.) We pronounce our fellow animals to be automates, or we allow them instinct.
B. adj. [Cf. F. automate, adj.] = automatic.
1818Southey in Q. Rev. XIX. 18 His scheme of a Royal Garden comprehended..artificial echos, automate and hydraulic music.
▪ II. automate, v. orig. U.S.|ˈɔːtəmeɪt|
[Back-formation f. next or f. automation; cf. automate n. and a.]
1. trans. To apply automation to; to convert to largely automatic operation; to introduce automatic control to (the manufacture of a product, etc.).
1954N.Y. Times 4 May (heading) Huge Sums to Be Spent to Automate Plants. 1959Listener 5 Nov. 762/2 In theory..management in steel has the right to automate the mills without interference. 1961Times 3 Oct. (Computer Suppl.) ii/5 The first stage in ‘automating’ a production plant is to increase mechanization. 1962Listener 17 May 855/1 It is natural that we should try to programme, or automate, part of the teacher's work [by the use of teaching machines].
2. intr. or absol.
1955Controller Dec. 602/2 PanAm Automates. 1962Economist 19 May 693/1 Those days saw the country ‘automating’ considerably faster than it is doing now. 1967Listener 23 Feb. 248/1 The more we automate, the greater the resources needed. |