Word: robot Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₃erbʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃órbʰos Proto-Balto-Slavic *árbas Proto-Slavic *orbъ Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Balto-Slavic *-éitei Proto-Slavic *-iti Proto-Slavic *orbiti Proto-Indo-European *-otéh₂ Proto-Balto-Slavic *-atā́ˀ Proto-Slavic *-ota Proto-Slavic *orbota Old Czech robota Czech robota Czech robotbor. English robot Borrowed from Czech robot, from robota (“drudgery, servitude”). Coined in the 1920 science-fiction play R.U.R. by Karel Čapek after having been suggested to him by his brother Josef. Ultimately a cognate with Old English earfoþe and German Arbeit; see dialectal erf. Doublet of etymology 1. Related to English orphan, but with a -t- suffix from Proto-Slavic instead of the -an- from Ancient Greek. Compare Polish robotnik and Russian работник (rabotnik, “worker”), sometimes mistakenly cited as the direct source of the English word. Pronunciation: /ˈɹəʊ̯.bɒt/, /ˈɹəʊ̯.bət/, /ˈɹoʊ̯.bɑt/, /ˈɹɔʊ̯.bɑt/, /ˈɹəʉ̯.bɔt/ 1. An intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal. Example: Young Rossum invented a worker with a minimum amount of requirements. He had to simplify him. He rejected everything that did not contribute directly to the progress of work—everything that makes man more expensive. In fact, he rejected man and made the Robot. My dear Miss Glory, the Robots are not people. Mechanically they are more perfect than we are, they have an enormously developed intelligence, but they have no soul. Example: The robots in Dick's novel, loosely adapted by Ridley Scott into the film Blade Runner, were so similar to humans that when they went rogue, trained bounty hunters were called in to perform psychological tests to see whether suspected androids lacked human empathy. 2. A machine built to carry out some complex task or group of tasks by physically moving, especially one which can be programmed. Example: We have a robot in the house that does the vacuuming. Example: It's painfully slow and complex work which has never been attempted before in these conditions: the small box-shaped robots, equipped with two claws, are operating in almost freezing water 5,000ft below the surface, in pitch black and strong currents. 3. A bot, software designed to perform a task. Example: Clifton Sellers attended a Zoom meeting last month where robots outnumbered humans. 4. A person who does not seem to have any emotions or individuality. Labels: figuratively Example: Straight society tries to change us by several means. Most of the time, it is mental torture, though physical abuse is not uncommon. We are programmed to be straight starting from the day we are born, and every action, word, and feeling must conform to the straight image. If we DO decide to be free rather than to be robots, here are some of the consequences. Example: Yet surely he was a humorless robot of a man, spewing forth lonely and bitter critiques of all those lesser mortals with whom he could not identify. 5. A traffic light (from earlier robot policeman). Labels: South-Africa 6. A theodolite which follows the movements of a prism and can be used by a one-man crew. 7. A style of dance popular in disco in which the dancer imitates the stiff movements of a stereotypical android robot.