WHAT IS A ROBOT?

Franklin Times, Volume XIX, Issue 93, 12 August 1929, Page 8

WHAT IS A ROBOT?

WORD OF SLAVIC ORIGIN.

One of our correspondents in the Department of the Interior, Ottawa, Canada, proposed a curious question which concerned the derivation of the word “robot,” says the “Scientific American.” We consulted all the dictionaries in our library and prosecuted inquiries wherever we thought they might prove fruitful. We finally wrote to Mr R. J. Wesley, who is the creator of the Westinghouse electric robot. Mr Wensley wrote us as follows: . . .“I am informed by a student in our Apprentice Course, who comes from Czecho-Slovakia, that the word is a Czechish word which, literally translated, means a very hard working man doing heavy manual labour. The word came into use because of its appearance in the Theatre Guild Play ‘R.U.R.’ by a Czechish writer, Capek.” The above information was relayed to our correspondent, who in turn gave us some additional information of which the following is an excerpt: . . .“With reference to your reply, it quite disposes of my previous idea that the word is of modern and synthetic origin, but for the fact that, based on the start you give me, I have been checking the matter through a little further with the help of two or three men in Government service here who are of Slavic birth and education. They all confirm the information that you obtained, the word or closely allied derivatives being found in both Polish and Czech as meaning work, worker, or manual labourer. In fact it is also found in other than Slavic languages, because a very old dictionary which we unearthed gives Robat, Robath, Roboth, Robold, Robald and Robelt as proper names, each and all meaning worker.”