droid

See also: 'droid

English

WOTD – 4 May 2021

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 1927) 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

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹɔɪd/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɪd

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)‎, 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.

Alternative forms

• 'droid (archaic)

Derived terms

• marketroid (perhaps)
• robodroid (rare)
• sexdroid

Translations

robot, especially one made with some physical resemblance to a human — see android,‎ robot

person having the qualities of an android — see robot

References

1. Compare “droid, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “droid, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• android (robot) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• droid (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Jeff Prucher, editor (2007), “droid”, in Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 38.
• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “droid, n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.

Anagrams

• dorid

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /drɔi̯d/

Verb

droid

1. Soft mutation of troid.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
troid	droid	nhroid	throid
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.