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humanoid

/ˌ(h)juməˈnɔɪd/
IPA guide

Other forms: humanoids

Something that's humanoid looks or acts like a real, live human being — but it's not. A humanoid robot is one that's designed to resemble a person.

Anthropologists coined the word humanoid in the 19th century, adding the suffix -oid, or "like," to human. Scientists once used it to talk about humanlike traits in non-human organisms, but today it nearly always describes an automaton or robot. In the Star Wars universe, droids like C-3PO are humanoid, while R2-D2, who doesn’t have arms and legs or a recognizable face, is not.

Definitions of humanoid
  1. noun
    an automaton that resembles a human being
    synonyms: android, mechanical man
    see moresee less
    type of:
    automaton, bot, golem, robot
    a mechanism that can move automatically
  2. adjective
    relating to a moving mechanical device that looks like a person
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