robot

[ roh-bot ]
See synonyms for: robotrobotsrobotic on Thesaurus.com

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.

  1. any machine or mechanical device that operates automatically with humanlike skill.

adjective
  1. operating automatically: a robot train operating between airline terminals.

Origin of robot

1
<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

Other words from robot

  • ro·bot·ism, noun
  • ro·bot·ic [roh-bot-ik], /roʊˈbɒt ɪk/, ro·bo·tis·tic [roh-buh-tis-tik, -bo-], /ˌroʊ bəˈtɪs tɪk, -bɒ-/, adjective
  • ro·bot·like, adjective

Words Nearby robot

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use robot in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for robot

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

  1. a person who works or behaves like a machine; automaton

  2. Southern African a set of traffic lights

Origin of robot

1
C20: (used in R.U.R., a play by Karel Čapek) from Czech robota work; related to Old Slavonic rabota servitude, German Arbeit work

Derived forms of robot

  • robotic, adjective
  • robotism or robotry, noun
  • robot-like, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for robot

robot

[ bŏt′ ]


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

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.