autopsy (n.)

word-forming element of Greek origin meaning "self, one's own, by oneself, of oneself" (and especially, from 1895, "automobile"), from Greek autos, reflexive pronoun, "self, same," which is of unknown origin. It also was a common word-forming element in ancient Greek, as in modern English, but very few of the old words have survived the interval.

In Greek, as a word-forming element, auto- had the sense of "self, one's own, of oneself ('independently'); of itself ('natural, native, not made'); just exactly; together with." Before a vowel, it became aut-; before an aspirate, auth-. In Greek it also was used as a prefix to proper names, as in automelinna "Melinna herself." The opposite prefix would be allo-.

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to see."

It forms all or part of: amblyopia; antique; antler; atrocity; autopsy; binocle; binocular; biopsy; catoptric; Cyclops; daisy; enoptomancy; eye; eyelet; ferocity; hyperopia; inoculate; inveigle; monocle; monocular; myopia; necropsy; ocular; oculist; oculus; oeillade; ogle; ophthalmo-; optic; optician; optics; optometry; panoptic; panopticon; Peloponnesus; pinochle; presbyopia; prosopopeia; stereoptican; synopsis; triceratops; ullage; wall-eyed; window.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit akshi "the eye; the number two," Greek osse "(two) eyes," opsis "a sight;" Old Church Slavonic oko, Lithuanian akis, Latin oculus, Greek okkos, Tocharian ak, ek, Armenian akn "eye."