robota
compulsory labor, corvée, drudgery
- SOUND
- Josef Čapek suggested robot from Czech robota; English received the coined form through Karel Čapek's R.U.R. and its translation.
- MEANING
- Compulsory human labor was reassigned to artificial workers, then generalized to automatic machines.
- CHRONOLOGY
- R.U.R. appeared in 1920; English first known use is 1922.
- SCHOLAR
- Merriam-Webster editors
- CONFIDENCE
- established