At times I think of the language as existing in a kind of competitive marketplace where words compete for survival. This is how “internet” ( no capital letter) replaced the “world wide web”. I don’t know anyone who recently bought an “auto” but the insurance company I most recently worked for offered coverage for both “home and auto” . Perhaps there is some peaceful coexistence possible in some realms.
Eventually the language decides what it wants to use and consigns the rest to crossword puzzles.
And words can change meaning. The word gay is no longer ever used according to the dictionary definition. Today gay means homosexual and nothing else.