Rabota
/rəˈboʊtə/noun
Work or labor, especially when referring to a Slavic-language context.
Did you know?Karel Čapek’s 1920 play R.U.R. popularized “robot,” adapting the Czech robota—meaning forced labor—from the same Slavic root as rabota.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*orbh-
“A root associated with being bereft, dependent, or serving under another”
Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic
*orbota
“Servile labor or work performed under obligation”
Old Church Slavonic
OCS
rabota
“Work, labor, or service”
15th–16th Century
Czech
robota
“Compulsory labor owed by a serf to a feudal lord”
Modern Russian
Russian
работа (rabóta)
“Work, employment, or a task”
20th Century
English
rabota
“A Slavic loanword meaning work or labor”