auton n.

an autonomous robot or robotic device; (specif. in form Auton) in the British television series Doctor Who: one of a group of malevolent humanoid robots having plastic-like skin

Wikipedia


Robotics

Doctor Who

  • 1970 R. Holmes Spearhead from Space (Doctor Who episode) (transcript)

    Hibbert What about Ransome? Is he safe now? Channing Unless he returns to the area. If he does, the Autons will track him down and destroy him…. Ransome The face was smooth, shiny. It was plastic! Made in the factory. Brigadier Why do you say that? Ransome Well, just before this thing came after me, I passed a whole line of them. They were all exactly the same.

  • 1986 V. Vinge Marooned in Realtime 28 Vernor Vinge bibliography

    ‘We can’t reproduce the most advanced of our own devices. When those finally break, we'll be as helpless as you.’ ‘I thought your autons were good for hundreds of years.’ Ibid. 29 If we can’t, if we fall to a premachine age when our autons fail…we'll be just too primitive and too few to survive.

  • 1993 TV ZoneDec. 6 page image

    This was followed by a re-enactment of the activation of the Auton shop-window dummies.

  • 1997 J. Whedon Alien: Resurrection (transcript of film) Joss Whedon

    That means you’re an Auton, right? Robots designed by robots!

  • 2005 Daily Telegraph 9 Mar. 11/6

    The opening episode sees the return of the Autons and future villains will include the Daleks.

Last modified 2021-03-05 03:57:37
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.