android

noun

an·​droid ˈan-ˌdrȯid 

: a mobile robot usually with a human form

sci-fi androids

Examples of android in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Our biped brings back our hydraulic design with custom liquid valves for a silent android. —IEEE Spectrum, 13 Dec. 2024

But that couldn’t save the old World War II-era android from an explosive end. —EW.com, 12 Dec. 2024

Prior to their disqualification, the players had been taking advantage of a quirk with some of the characters in the fighting game, namely the androids. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 29 Nov. 2024

While Everyday Robots might not be as flashy as the dystopian androids in Boston Dynamics videos, they are optimized to get stuff done. —Steven Levy, WIRED, 19 Nov. 2021

Word History

Etymology

earlier androides "automaton having a human form," borrowed from French androïde, perhaps borrowed from Late Greek androeidḗs "in the form of a man, like a man," from Greek andr-, anḗr "man, husband, human" + -oeidēs -oid entry 2 — more at andro-

Note: The word may equally well have been formed in post-medieval Latin, but evidence is lacking. An early English instance can be found in The History of Magick by way of Apology, for all the Wise Men who have unjustly been reputed Magicians (London, 1657), a translation, by "J. Davies," of Apologie pour tous les grands personnages qui ont esté faussement soupçonnez de magie (Paris, 1625) by the French librarian and scholar Gabriel Naudé (1600-53). The French word occurs earlier in Le mastigophore, ou precurseur du Zodiaque ([Paris]: 1609), a satirical work by the priest Antoine Fuzy/Fusi (1560-1629). Both authors use androïde in connection with the legendary talking automaton devised by albertus magnus, without any suggestion that the word was a neologism.

First Known Use

circa 1736, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

android

noun

an·​droid

ˈan-ˌdrȯid

: a mobile robot with human form

Medical Definition

android

adjective

an·​droid ˈan-ˌdrȯid 

1

of the pelvis : having the angular form and narrow outlet typical of the human male

a disproportionate number of difficult labors occur in women with android pelvises

compare anthropoid entry 1, gynecoid, platypelloid

2

: relating to or characterized by the distribution of body fat chiefly in the abdominal region

android obesity

compare gynecoid