humanoid
n.a machine or creature that looks and moves like a human being. You often see this word in stories about robots or aliens.
n.a being or machine that possesses a human-like form or characteristics. Often used in the context of robotics, science fiction, or evolutionary biology.
“The lab is building a humanoid to help elderly people.”
“Engineers designed the humanoid with two legs and a face to make it more approachable for hospital patients.”
“While the latest humanoid can mimic facial expressions with startling accuracy, its mechanical gait still betrays its artificial nature to any casual observer.”
Often used as an adjective to describe robots or biological species, but functions as a noun when referring to the entity itself.
Usage humanoid robot · humanoid robots
“Expressive humanoid robots are intended to make people feel at ease when interacting with them.”
“This works remarkably well for self-driving—humans already drive cars—but it scales far less naturally to humanoid robots with dexterous hands.”
Etymology tree Latin hūmānus Old French umain Middle French humainbor. Middle English humayne English human Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o- Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der. Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs) Latin -oīdēslbor. English -oid English humanoid From human (from Latin hūmānus m (“of or belonging to a man, human, humane”, adjective)) + -oid.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.