droid

See also: 'droid

English

WOTD – 4 May 2021

Alternative forms

Etymology

A simulated droid (sense 1) at the Star Wars Celebration event in Anaheim, California, April 2015.

    Clipping of android (“robot designed to look and act like a human being”). Coined by the American science fiction author Mari Wolf (born 1926) in the story “Robots of the World! Arise!” (1952), and popularized by the film Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, 1977):[1] see the quotations.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    droid (plural droids)

    1. (originally and chiefly science fiction) A robot, especially one made with some physical resemblance to a human (an android).
      • 1952 July, Mari Wolf, “Robots of the World! Arise!”, in James L. Quinn, editor, If (Project Gutenberg; Ebook #31611)‎[1], volume 1, number 3, Kingston, N.Y.: Quinn Pub. Co., published 12 March 2010, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 April 2019, page 76:
        It's crazy. They're swarming all over Carron City. They're stopping robots in the streets—household Robs, commercial Droids, all of them. They just look at them, and then the others quit work and start off with them.
      • 1976, George Lucas, [Alan Dean Foster], Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 77:
        “These aren’t the ’droids you’re looking for,” [Obi-Wan] Kenobi told him pleasantly.
      • 1995, J. D. Robb [pseudonym; Nora Roberts], chapter 3, in Glory in Death, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 39:
        The bartender was a droid, as most were, but she doubted this one had been programmed to listen cheerfully to customers' hard luck stories. […] Droids couldn't be bribed, she thought with some regret. And threats had to be both clever and logical.
      • 2005, Robert Arp, “‘If Droids Could Think …’: Droids as Slaves and Persons”, in Kevin S. Decker, Jason T. Eberl, editors, Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful than You Can Possibly Imagine (Popular Culture and Philosophy; 12), Chicago; LaSalle, Ill.: Open Court Publishing Company, →ISBN, part III (“Don’t Call Me a Mindless Philosopher!”):
        Do droids have capacities for mental states and language? There are plenty of examples of droids apparently engaged in behaviors expressive of mental states and language. One glaring example is the torturing of a droid at Jabba the Hutt's palace in Return of the Jedi. […] (Interestingly enough, one also gets the sense that the droid administering the torture is enjoying what he's doing.)
      • 2005, Patricia C[ollins] Wrede, Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith […], New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, →ISBN, page 142:
        The trouble with droids is that they can't think, Obi-Wan told himself as he hacked his way through the battle droids that still clogged the sinkhole tunnel city on Utapau. An army made up of living beings would have seen how badly outnumbered they were, and given up. The droids just kept on fighting.
      • 2014, S. E. Gilchrist, chapter 1, in When Stars Collide, Sydney, N.S.W.: Escape Publishing, →ISBN:
        I'm close to finding those maps. I know it! Then six more missions and I'll have enough creds to set myself up in style on some snug and safe planet. I'll have a bunch of droid servants and never have to get my hands dirty again.
      • 2020, Eloc Throno [pseudonym; Cole Horton], “Droid Depot”, in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: Traveler’s Guide to Batuu, Bellevue, Wash.: Becker&mayer! books, The Quarto Group, →ISBN, page 36:
        Stepping inside to the front office you'll find Black Spire's most complete collection of droids, technical manuals, droid parts, and tools. Tucked outside the shop lies a repair station and oil bath, normally considered a luxury by most droid companions.
    2. (chiefly US, derogatory) A person having the qualities of an android; one with few or no emotions or little personality, or who acts in an unthinking manner; a robot.
      • 2006, Shane Bolks, Reality TV Bites: […], New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 16:
        "Okay, Allie, I didn't want to have to do this, but if you insist on behaving like an astromech droid, you leave me no choice." Rory's an accountant and a Star Wars nerd.

    Derived terms

    Translations

    See also

    References

    1. ^ Compare “droid, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “droid, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

    Further reading

    Anagrams

    Polish

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *h₂nḗr
    Proto-Hellenic *anḗr
    Ancient Greek ἀνήρ (anḗr)
    Proto-Indo-European *weyd-
    Proto-Indo-European *-os
    Proto-Indo-European *wéydos
    Proto-Hellenic *wéidos
    Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos)
    Proto-Indo-European *-os
    Proto-Indo-European *-s
    Proto-Indo-European *-ēs
    Proto-Hellenic *-ēs
    Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs)
    Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs)
    Ancient Greek ἀνδροειδής (androeidḗs)bor.
    New Latin androideslbor.
    English androidclip.
    English droidbor.
    Polish droid

      Borrowed from English droid.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈdrɔ.it/
      • Rhymes: -ɔit
      • Syllabification: dro‧id

      Noun

      droid m animal or m inan (female equivalent droidka, diminutive droidek)

      1. (chiefly science fiction) droid (a robot, especially one made with some physical resemblance to a human [an android])
        • 2005, Jaga Rydzewska, Wojownicy [The Warriors] (Atalaya; 1) (fiction; paperback), quoted in NKJP, Warszawa: SuperNowa, published 2005, →ISBN, →OCLC:
          Na samym środku leżeli Sule i Dag, nad nimi stał droid, a jeszcze dalej ostało się kilka regałów z paletami.
          Sule and Dag were lying right in the middle, a droid stood over them, and a bit further away, a few shelves with pallets remained.

      Declension

      Masculine animal:

      Declension of droid
      singular plural
      nominative droid droidy
      genitive droida droidów
      dative droidowi droidom
      accusative droida droidy
      instrumental droidem droidami
      locative droidzie droidach
      vocative droidzie droidy

      Masculine inanimate:

      Declension of droid
      singular plural
      nominative droid droidy
      genitive droida droidów
      dative droidowi droidom
      accusative droid droidy
      instrumental droidem droidami
      locative droidzie droidach
      vocative droidzie droidy

      Further reading

      • Modern Standard Polish:
        • “droid”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[2] (in Polish)

      Welsh

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /drɔi̯d/
      • Rhymes: -ɔi̯d
      • Hyphenation: droid

      Verb

      droid

      1. soft mutation of troid

      Mutation

      Mutated forms of troid
      radical soft nasal aspirate
      troid droid nhroid throid

      Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
      All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

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