Name: Mysteries of vernacular: Robot
Uploaded: 2020-06-08T17:33:42Z
Duration: 2 min 2 s
Description: In 1920, Czech writer Karel Čapek wrote a play about human-like machines, thereby inventing the term robot from the Central European word for forced labor. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel explain how the science fiction staple earned its name.

Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel: Mysteries of vernacular: Robot

Mysteries of vernacular: Robot

In 1920, Czech writer Karel Čapek wrote a play about human-like machines, thereby inventing the term robot from the Central European word for forced labor. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel explain how the science fiction staple earned its name. 

The word robot traces its roots back over a thousand years to an era when serfdom and forced labor dominated central Europe. In 1920, a Czech science fiction play introduced the term to describe human-like machines, drawing from words meaning drudgery and servitude. The story’s impact was so strong that robot quickly entered English, forever shaping the way we imagine artificial helpers. Today’s robots look nothing like those early visions, but their origin still echoes in their name.