The word "robot" is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "rabota" , which means "servitude," "forced labor," or "drudgery." This term is related to the concept of work, especially the kind of labor performed by serfs or slaves
. The modern usage of the word "robot" was popularized by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). Čapek credited his brother Josef with coining the term "robot," which comes from the Czech word robota meaning "forced labor" or "serf labor," reflecting the idea of workers or servants
. The root of the word traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root orbh- , and it is cognate with the German word Arbeit (work)
. In summary:
- The root word is the Old Church Slavonic "rabota" (работа in Russian), meaning forced labor or servitude.
- The Czech word "robota" means corvée or serf labor, which inspired the term "robot."
- The word was introduced into English and other languages through Karel Čapek's play in 1920
Thus, while "robot" is often said to be derived from a Russian word, it actually originates from a Slavic root shared by several languages, including Russian and Czech, with the Czech term robota being the direct source for the English word "robot."
