[Sp. and Pg.:—L. actu-s act.]
1. A play. Cf. ACT sb. 7.
1779. H. Swinburne, Trav. Spain, iii. 9, note. Autos and mysterios are prohibited on the theatres of Madrid, but are frequently represented upon all others in the kingdom.
1848. Mrs. Jameson, Sacr. & Leg. Art (1850), 339. Calderon founded on it one of his finest autos, the ‘Magico Prodigioso.’
2. for AUTO-DA-FÉ. Cf. ACT sb. 9.
1727–41. Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Act, They usually contrive the Auto to fall on some great festival.
1823. Byron, Age Bronze, vii. The faith’s red ‘auto,’ fed with human fuel.
