Where does “robotics” come from?
Robotics is a modern English formation from robot, which derives from Czech robota meaning forced labor, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European h₃erbʰ-.
robotics (English): The science and technology of robots, their...
Definitions
- The science and technology of robots, their...
Ancestry of “robotics”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | robot | A machine built to carry out some complex task or... |
| 2 | German | Robot | socage |
| 3 | Czech | robot | robot in humanoid form |
| 4 | Czech | robota | serfdom, villeinage; corvee; any arduous work;... |
| 5 | Old Czech | robota | servitude, enslavement |
| 6 | Proto-Slavic | orbòta | work |
| 7 | Proto-Slavic | orbъ | servant, slave |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃órbʰos | orphan; servant, slave, worker |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃erbʰ- | to change allegiance, status, ownership;... |