The building blocks of English

Affixes

auto-2

An automobile or motor vehicle.

English automobile.

An automobile was named because it seemed to go by itself, not needing an obvious motive force such as a horse. Some terms refer specifically to the motor car, including auto itself: an autoworker builds cars in a factory, and autocross is a competition using motor vehicles. An autorickshaw in the Indian subcontinent is a motorized, three-wheeled rickshaw for public hire.