It's spelled several ways, which is probably why you couldn't look it up easily. I'm no baker; but, in a nutshell it means let the dough sit a while before proceeding.

Here's a breadmaking quote:
" One of the most important techniques that we employ at the bakery (even though we have a machine mixer that could mix 300 lbs. of dough for 30 minutes if we wanted it to), is called an autolyse. This is the French term for giving the dough a rest. It is the way bakers did things before the days of mixers and it actually yields better results than an extended kneading period does. To do a proper autolyse, mix up a dough with all the flour your recipe calls for and just 90% of the total water amount called for. Leave out the salt, leavening agent, and 10% of the water. Incorporate this just enough so that there are no more dry clumps of flour (it will still be shaggy and not particularly stretchy). Cover this with a bowl and let it sit for 20 min. When you come back to the dough after the autolyse, you will find that in this short time, the water has absorbed into the flour and the dough is much more pliable than it first was... and you didn't even sweat to make that happen! Now you are set up for employing the next two tips. "

Try spelling with a 'y' or an 's' for more breadmaking tips online.
Source(s):
http://www.redhenbaking.com/methods.html

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