self-startingadj.
/ˌsɛlfˈstɑːtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfˈstɑrdɪŋ/ 1. That starts itself automatically or spontaneously; that does not need to be started manually or by an external device; spec. designating an internal combustion engine that is started by starter motor, or a motor vehicle or other machine equipped with such an engine. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > beginning action or activity > [adjective] > coming into operation automatically
self-starting1850
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > types of machine generally > [adjective] > automatic > semi-automatic
self-starting1850
semi-automatic1903
smart1972
1850 New-Bedford (Mass.) Mercury 22 Nov. 2/7 Mr. Sewall B. Walton..succeeded in making a machine that possesses a self-starting power, and a self-acting motion.
1866 Inst. Mech. Engineers: Proc. 268 An arrangement for rendering the self-adjusting injector also self-starting has been contrived at the writer's works.
1884 Engineering 8 Feb. 129/3 It has often been proposed to make a self-starting gas engine, and there are many patents for the purpose.
1912 Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 556/2 Self-starting motor-cars.
1927 M. Asquith Lay Serm. i. 22 After making elaborate notes on all his self-starting symptoms, he wrote a long prescription.
1965 Wireless World July 56/1 (advt.) Synchronous electric clock movements... Self starting.
1983 Buck & Hickman Catal. 1983–5 714/1 Single-phase induction motors are not self-starting unless steps are taken to make them so.
2015 Engin. & Industr. Rev. (Nexis) Oct. Measuring 6.5 feet in length and four in width, the self-starting plane can carry up to 80 kilograms.
2. Of a person: able to use act on one's own initiative; resourceful, dynamic, motivated by oneself.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > [adjective] > motivated > specific
self-driven1694
well-motivated1885
self-motivated1900
profit-motivated1921
self-starting1940
1940 Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas) 7 Feb. 6/5 His mother..gave way to panic. In the presence of a group of his friends, she ordered her six-foot, self-starting young man to go to bed.
1951 Salina (Kansas) Jrnl. 16 Sept. 6/1 The workshops in the schools..are the laboratories for the cultivation of informed, efficient, self-starting American citizens.
1967 Financial Times 2 Aug. 14/5 (advt.) A self-starting Sales Executive in mid-thirties..seeks position where his initiative will not be stifled.
1992 D. Morgan Rising in West iii. xxi. 412 Harris said that home schooling produced more independent, ‘self-starting’ children.
2015 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 17 Dec. I've..been hugely influenced by some family friends who are amazing, self-starting, successful businesspeople.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1850