robot

• enPR: rō′bŏt
• (UK, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈɹəʊ.bɒt/

  • Audio (AU)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɹoʊ.bɑt/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (rare, antiquated) enPR: rō′bət, IPA^(key): /ˈɹoʊ.bət/

From German Robot, from a West Slavonic language, ultimately related to Etymology 2, below.

robot (uncountable)

1. (now historical) A system of serfdom used in Central Europe, under which a tenant's rent was paid in forced labour. [from 19th c.]
   • 1849, Littell's Living Age, volume 23, page 309:

     “I say again, down with the robot!—he is a dog who yields it!”

   • 2007, Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory, Penguin, published 2008, page 159:

     Although the robot varied from region to region, it was rarely less than burdensome.

Borrowed from Czech robot, from robota (“drudgery, servitude”). Coined in the 1920 science-fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek after having been suggested to him by his brother Josef, and taken into English without change.[1]

robot (plural robots)

An industrial robot (sense 2) engraving on a metal plate.

1. (chiefly science fiction) An intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal. [from 20th c.]
   • c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act I, page 17:

     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.

   • 2010 January 26, Tom Chivers, Iain McDiarmid, The Telegraph:

     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. [from 20th c.]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:robot

   Hypernym: automaton

   Hyponym: android

   We have a robot in the house that does the vacuuming.

   • 2010 May 16, Tim Webb, The Guardian:

     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. (figuratively) A person who does not seem to have any emotions. [from 20th c.]
   • 2006, Murray N. Rothbard, Making Economic Sense, page xiv:

     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.

4. (South Africa) A traffic light (from earlier robot policeman). [from 20th c.]
5. (surveying) A theodolite which follows the movements of a prism and can be used by a one-man crew.
6. (dance) A style of dance popular in disco in which the dancer imitates the stiff movements of a stereotypical android robot.

• → Hindi: रोबोट (roboṭ)
• → Japanese: ロボット (robotto)
• → Korean: 로봇 (robot)
• → Swahili: roboti
• → Welsh: robot

Referencing the origin of the name of the 4chan imageboard /r9k/ (created in 2008), so-called because it implements the ROBOT9000 algorithm by Randall Munroe to prevent the reposting of content.

Possibly overlapping with the sense of robot (“a person who does not seem to have any emotions”), alluding to autism, due to the prevalence of personal stories describing awkward or embarrassing situations on the board.

robot (plural robots)

1. (Internet slang, 4chan) A habitual poster on the /r9k/ board on 4chan; a member of the /r9k/ community.
   • 2015 October 1, David Kravets, “Ominous messages left on 4chan day before Oregon college killings [Updated]”, in Ars Technica‎, archived from the original on 2022-12-06:

     One anonymous message addressed to "fellow robots" hoped readers would have "an enjoyable Elliot Rodger day"—a reference to the shooter who killed six near a Santa Barbara university last year.

   • 2015 October 3, Jay Hathaway, “How 4chan Trolled Two of Its Friends by Framing Them for the Oregon Mass Shooting”, in Gawker‎, archived from the original on 2022-11-20:

     Posters on the board are locked in an ongoing debate about who can be one of them— a "robot." Can white guys be robots, despite their privilege? Can black guys? Women love them! It goes on and on. Only one rule really seems to be agreed upon: "If you have no friends and no gf you are a robot."

   • 2015 October 5, Justin Wm. Moyer, anonymous quotee, “Philadelphia colleges on alert after 4chan post threatens violence Monday”, in The Washington Post‎, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-06-24:

     It continued: "On October 5, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. CT, a fellow robot will take up arms against a university near Philadelphia. His cries will be heard, his victims will cower in fear, and the strength of the Union will decay a little more."

   • 2019, Dale Beran, It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump into Office, New York, N.Y.: All Points Books, →ISBN:

     As /r9k/ robots posted and reposted Pepes to playfully mock their status as grotesque outsiders whose very visage was disturbing to "normies," they ushered in a renaissance of frogs that soon appealed to all the netizens who every year had a little more in common with withdrawn, internet-soaked hikikomori.

• android
• artificial intelligence
• computer
• cyborg
• domotics
• pedipulator
• robot revolution

• robot on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “robot”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “robot”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• boort, torob

Borrowed from English robot.

• IPA^(key): /ˈrʊə̯.bɔt/

• Audio

  (file)

robot (plural robotte)

1. robot
2. traffic light
   • 1997, Riana Scheepers, Dogters van Afrika. Verhale oor Suid-Afrikaanse Vroue, Tafelberg (publ.).

     As die robotte na groen oorslaan, brul hulle en storm vorentoe.

     When the traffic lights switch to green, they roar and storm forward.

Ultimately from Czech robot.

• IPA^(key): /robot/ [ro.β̞ot̪]
• Rhymes: -obot
• Hyphenation: ro‧bot

robot anim

1. robot

• "robot" in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], euskaltzaindia.eus

From Czech robot.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ruˈβɔt]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian) [roˈbɔt]

• Audio (Central)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔt

robot m (plural robots)

1. robot

• “robot” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “robot”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “robot” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “robot” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From English robot, from Czech robot, from robota (“drudgery, servitude”). Coined in the 1921 science-fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek after having been suggested to him by his brother Josef.

• Hyphenation: ro‧bot

robot

1. a machine built to carry out some complex task or group of tasks by physically moving, especially one which can be programmed
2. an intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal
3. (figuratively) a person who does not seem to have any emotions
4. a style of dance popular in disco whereby the dancer impersonates the movement of a robot

From robota. Coined by Josef Čapek, it first appeared in the 1921 science-fiction play R.U.R. by his brother Karel Čapek.

• IPA^(key): [ˈrobot]

robot m anim

1. robot (in humanoid form)

robot m anim or m inan

1. robot (in non-humanoid form)

• → English: robot
• → French: robot
  • → Portuguese: robô

• robot in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• robot in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• robot in Internetová jazyková příručka

Ultimately from Czech robot.

• IPA^(key): [ʁoˈbʌd]

robot c (singular definite robotten, plural indefinite robotter)

1. robot

• “robot” in Den Danske Ordbog

Borrowed, likely from German Robot, from Czech robot. The plural is likely influenced by English or French.

• IPA^(key): /ˈroː.bɔt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ro‧bot

robot m (plural robots or robotten, diminutive robotje n)

1. robot [from 1921]

   Synonym: kunstmens

• robotarm
• robotauto
• robotvliegtuig

• arbeid
• bot
• robotica
• robotisch

• boort

From Czech robot.

• IPA^(key): /ʁɔ.bo/

• Audio

  (file)

robot m (plural robots)

1. robot

   Je ne suis pas un robot ― I am not a robot (captcha)

• robot boulanger

• Turkish: robot
• Portuguese: robô

• “robot”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• IPA^(key): [ˈrobot]
• Hyphenation: ro‧bot
• Rhymes: -ot

From Bavarian robat, robold, from Czech robota (“forced labour, drudgery”).

robot (plural robotok)

1. (historical) socage, forced labour
2. (figuratively) hard work, drudgery

From Czech robot, from robota (“forced labour, drudgery”). Coined in the 1921 science-fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek.

robot (plural robotok)

1. robot

Same as above.

• (socage; drudgery): robot in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Unadapted borrowing from French robot, from Czech Robot, proper name of a robot.

• IPA^(key): /roˈbo/^**, /ˈrɔ.bot/[1]
• Rhymes: -o, -ɔbot
• Hyphenation: rò‧bot

robot m (invariable)

1. robot
2. (computing) bot

• robot da cucina

• botro, torbo

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹʷoː.bʌt/
• Hyphenation: ro‧bot

robot (plural robot dem, quantified robot)

1. (slang) illegal taxi

   Mi n'ave nuh big money fi spen' pon taxi. See one robot a come deh. Mek wi tek it.

   I don't have a lot of money to spend on a cab. Here's an illegal taxi. Let's take that.

   • 2013, “Robot – Patois Definition”, in Jamaican Patwah‎ (in English):

     “Slang expression for a vehicle that is operating as a taxi without the proper license that is required. […] ”

• route taxi

• robot at JamaicanPatwah.com

robot (transitive, 2nd conjugation, present roboju, robo, robo, past roboju)

1. to notch
2. to jag
3. to make an incision (on)

• grubuļot
• izrobot

From Czech robota.

robot m (definite singular roboten, indefinite plural roboter, definite plural robotene)

1. a robot

• “robot” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Czech robota.

robot m (definite singular roboten, indefinite plural robotar, definite plural robotane)

1. a robot

• “robot” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from Czech robot.

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɔ.bɔt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔbɔt
• Syllabification: ro‧bot

robot m animal

1. robot

• robot in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• robot in Polish dictionaries at PWN

robot m (plural robots)

1. Alternative form of robô

Borrowed from French robot, from Czech robot.

robot m (plural roboți)

1. robot

• IPA^(key): /rôbot/
• Hyphenation: ro‧bot

rȍbot m (Cyrillic spelling ро̏бот)

1. robot

Borrowed from Czech robot.

• IPA^(key): /rɔbóːt/

robọ̑t m anim

1. robot

• “robot”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “robot”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Borrowed from English robot, from Czech.

• IPA^(key): /roˈbot/ [roˈβ̞ot̪]
• Rhymes: -ot
• Syllabification: ro‧bot

robot m (plural robots)

1. robot

• “robot”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Borrowed from Czech robotnik or robota (“worker; serf”). Coined by Czech author Karel Čapek in 1920 via the play R.U.R.. Attested in Swedish since 1921.

In weaponry sense attested since 1944.

robot c

1. a robot (“machine that carries out complex tasks”)
2. (weaponry) a missile

   Synonym: missil

   Hypernym: robotvapen

   Hyponyms: kryssningsrobot, luftvärnsrobot, sjömålsrobot

   Holonym: robotsystem

(Robot):

• industrirobot (“industrial robot”)
• robotdammsugare (“robotic vacuum cleaner”)
• robotgräsklippare (“robotic lawnmower”)
• robotkirurg (“robotic surgeon”)

(Weaponry):

• robot in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• robot in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Borrowed from English robot, from Czech robot, from robota (“drudgery, servitude”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɾobot/, [ˈɾo.bot]
• Hyphenation: ro‧bot

robot (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜓᜊᜓᜆ᜔)

1. robot

• “robot”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Borrowed from French robot, from Czech robot.

• IPA^(key): /ɾo.ˈbot/
• Hyphenation: ro‧bot

• Audio

  (file)

robot (definite accusative robotu, plural robotlar)

1. robot [from 1933]
2. Ellipsis of mutfak robotu (“food processor”).

• “robot”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “robot”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010) “robot”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı

Borrowed from English robot, from Czech robot.

robot m (plural robotiaid or robotau, not mutable)

1. robot

The plural form robotiaid is preferred for humanoid robots or androids whereas the plural form robotau designates machines.

• robotaidd (“robotic”, adjective)
• roboteg f (“robotics”)

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “robot”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies