Definitions: (1) undertaken or carried on without outside control; self-contained; (2) independent; self-governing; free; (3) acting in accordance with one’s moral duty rather than one’s desires
Derivation: Greek, “having its own laws”
Quote: Without free, self-respecting, and autonomous citizens there can be no free and independent nations. Without internal peace, that is, peace among citizens and between the citizens and the state, there can be no guarantee of external peace. — Vaclav Havel (1936-2011) President of Czechoslovakia