robot

The word “robot” means a machine, often shaped like a person, built to move and perform tasks on its own or under programmed control. In plain terms, a machine (or program) that does tasks automatically, sometimes shaped like a person.

“Robot” is pronounced ROH-bot (/ˈɹəʊ̯.bɒt/ in IPA).

Here is “robot” used in a sentence: “The factory installed robots to weld car parts on the assembly line.”

Words with a similar meaning to “robot” include bot, robo and clanker.

“Robot” is a noun.

The word “robot” dates back to around 1920. From Czech robota, meaning "forced labor," popularized by the 1920 play R.U.R. by Karel Čapek.

“Robot” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Robot” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a machine, often shaped like a person, built to move and perform tasks on its own or under programmed control.

"Bot" is a shortened form of "robot" but usually refers to a piece of software that automatically carries out tasks online, such as crawling web pages or replying to messages. "Robot" more often means a physical machine built to move and perform tasks. In everyday tech use, "bot" is digital and "robot" is physical.

A "robot" is any machine built to perform tasks, whatever its shape. An "android" is specifically a robot designed to look and behave like a human. All androids are robots, but most robots are not androids.

A "robot" is entirely a machine. A "cyborg" is a being that is part biological and part machine, such as a living creature with mechanical parts. The key difference is that a cyborg has a living component.

A "drone" usually refers to an aircraft or vehicle that is flown remotely or operates autonomously, making it one specific kind of robot. "Robot" is the broader term for any task-performing machine, whether it walks, rolls, or stays in one place.