robot

[ roh-bot ]

noun

1. a machine that resembles a human and does mechanical, routine tasks on command.
2. a person who acts and responds in a mechanical, routine manner, usually subject to another's will; automaton.
3. any machine or mechanical device that operates automatically with humanlike skill.

adjective

1. operating automatically:

   a robot train operating between airline terminals.

robot

/ ˈrəʊbɒt /

noun

1. any automated machine programmed to perform specific mechanical functions in the manner of a man
2. modifier not controlled by man; automatic

   a robot pilot

3. a person who works or behaves like a machine; automaton
4. a set of traffic lights

robot

/ rō′bŏt′ /

1. A machine designed to replace human beings in performing a variety of tasks, either on command or by being programmed in advance.

Derived Forms

• ˈrobot-ˌlike, adjective
• roˈbotic, adjective
• ˈrobotism, noun

Other Words From

• ro·bot·ism noun
• ro·bot·ic [roh-, bot, -ik], ro·bo·tis·tic [roh-b, uh, -, tis, -tik, -bo-], adjective
• ro·bot·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of robot¹

< Czech, coined by Karel Čapek in the play R.U.R. (1920) from the base robot-, as in robota compulsory labor, robotník peasant owing such labor

Word History and Origins

Origin of robot¹

C20: (used in R.U.R. , a play by Karel Čapek ) from Czech robota work; related to Old Slavonic rabota servitude, German Arbeit work

Example Sentences

“It was a simple idea of, ‘What if Wallace invents a smart gnome, a robot gnome, to help Gromit in the garden, and things inevitably go wrong?’

From Los Angeles Times

"If you change the environment even a tiny bit, the protein is like a transformer that suddenly flips from a car into a robot."

From Science Daily

The robot dog, which has been programmed with the intrinsic movement method, tends to jump and move much faster and more dynamically than its siblings, which rely on more conventional movement patterns.

From Science Daily

"Since LiDAR technology is already implemented widely in devices such as autonomous cars, smartphones and robots," Huang concludes, "our method enriches their capabilities with surface property measurement at very small scales."

From Science Daily

“I don't know that anyone is tempted to pet these robot dogs. They do not look cuddly,” said Melissa Michelson, a political scientist at Menlo College.

From BBC