finite automaton

noun

UK /ˈfaɪnaɪt ɔːˈtɒmətən/

US /ˈfaɪnaɪt ɔːˈtɑːmətən/

A finite automaton is a simple machine that follows a set of rules to decide if a word or pattern is allowed.

The teacher used a finite automaton to check which passwords follow the rules.

SYNONYMS

state machine finite state machine finite-state automaton automaton

RELATED WORDS

state transition regular language computation algorithm

OTHER MEANINGS

2. A mathematical model with a limited number of states that changes state based on input symbols.

Computer scientists draw a finite automaton as circles and arrows to show how it works.

3. A basic building block in computer science used to recognize patterns in text.

The search tool uses a finite automaton to find matching words quickly.

4. A machine that has only a fixed set of possible conditions and no extra memory.

A turnstile can be modeled as a finite automaton with locked and unlocked states.