robot

Etymology

First recorded in English in 1923,^[1][2] from the English translation of Karel Čapek's 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots).^[3][2] It is borrowed from Czech robot, from Czech robota (“forced labour, drudgery”).^[2][4] According to Etymonline, citing Rawson, the word was coined by Karel's brother Josef Čapek.^[3]

The Czech word is akin to Old High German arabeit (“trouble”) (modern German Arbeit “work”)^[1][3] and Latin orbus (“orphaned”).^[1]

References

1. [1] [2] [3] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
2. [1] [2] [3] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. [1] [2] [3] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. [1] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin