Robotic
/roʊˈbɑː.tɪk/noun
Relating to robots or resembling the mechanical behavior of a robot.
Did you know?Karel Čapek’s 1920 play R.U.R. popularized “robot,” while his brother Josef is credited with suggesting the term from Czech robota, meaning compulsory labor or drudgery.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*orbʰ-
“A root associated with being deprived, changing status, or being assigned to another’s service; its exact semantic development is debated.”
Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic
*orbota
“Work, labor, or servitude.”
Medieval Czech
Czech
robota
“Compulsory labor owed by a serf to a feudal lord; later, hard or burdensome work.”
1920
Czech
robot
“An artificial worker or manufactured laborer in Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R.; the term was derived from robota.”
1923
English
robot
“A machine capable of carrying out tasks automatically; the word entered English soon after the play’s international success.”
20th Century
English
robotic
“Relating to robots, or behaving in a mechanical, automatic, or unemotional way.”