Au*ton"o*my (?), n. [Gr. : cf. F. autonomie. See Autonomous.]
1.
The power or right of self-government; self-government, or political independence, of a city or a state.
2. Metaph.
The sovereignty of reason in the sphere of morals; or man's power, as possessed of reason, to give law to himself. In this, according to Kant, consist the true nature and only possible proof of liberty.
Fleming.
© Webster 1913.