Whence
Robot (the word)
Word

Where does Robot (the word) come from?

The word robot comes from Prague. It first appeared in Karel Čapek's Czech play R.U.R., published there in 1920, and grew out of robota, the Czech word for the forced labour that serfs had to perform on their masters' lands.

A word from Josef Čapek

Karel Čapek did not coin the word himself. In a 1933 article in the Czech newspaper Lidové noviny he explained that he had first wanted to call his artificial workers laboři, from Latin labor, 'work', but did not like it. He asked his brother Josef, a painter and writer, who suggested roboti. In Czech, robota meant serf labour, and figuratively drudgery. It goes back to an Old Czech source akin to Old Church Slavonic rabota, 'servitude', from rabu, 'slave'.

From the stage into English

R.U.R. stands for Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti, 'Rossum's Universal Robots'. Paul Selver translated it into English, and New York saw it first: the Theatre Guild opened it at the Garrick Theatre in October 1922, and it ran for 184 performances. London followed in April 1923. Etymonline dates the English word to 1923 and traces it to the translation. Čapek's robots were not metal machines but living artificial people assembled in a factory; only later did the word pass to machines.

Why people guess Japan or America

Today robots make many people think of Japan, known for humanoid robots such as ASIMO and, centuries earlier, for intricate mechanical dolls called karakuri ningyō. Others think of the United States. George Devol invented the first digitally operated, programmable robot, the Unimate, in 1954, and in 1961 one went to work in a General Motors plant in New Jersey, lifting hot metal parts. Isaac Asimov coined the word robotics. But robot itself was born in Czech.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org › R.U.R. ↗ · en.wikipedia.org › Robot ↗ · etymonline.com ↗ · mzv.gov.cz ↗

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