自主
Meaning
- to act independently; to be autonomous; to be in control of one's own affairs
Example sentence
总统不由自主地笑了起来。
The president laughed in spite of himself.
Characters in 自主
- 自 zì self, own; from
- 主 zhǔ main, chief; host, owner; to preside
自 self plus 主, to preside. Presiding over oneself, hence autonomous.