Självdragande

Självdragande is a Swedish adjective used to describe something that moves or operates by its own internal power or mechanism, rather than requiring continuous external input. The word is built from själv ('self') and dragande ('pulling' or 'driving'), and is often translated as "self-propelled" or "self-operating" in English. In technical and everyday Swedish, ämnet is used across domains to indicate that a device or process can perform an action autonomously after being started or activated.

Contexts for användning include mechanical engineering, transportation, and historical technical writing. It may refer to machinery or systems that obtain energy from internal sources (for example stored energy or a drive train) and thereby reduce the need for ongoing manual operation. The nuance between självdragande and related terms such as självdrivande or autonom can vary by field; in modern usage, terms like autonomous, self-operating, or self-propelled may be preferred depending on the level of autonomy. The exact meaning often depends on context and period, so it should be interpreted with attention to the specific domain.

See also: autonomous, self-propelled, automation.