[theSIRius]

Yes, Slavic languages have similarities. The same could be said for Germanic languages like English and German or Latin languages like Spanish and Portuguese.

That doesn't change the fact that the word "robot" in the meaning of artificial human was first used in R.U.R.

[blacksqr]

The word 'robota' is also related to the German word 'arbeiter'; both suggesting 'laborer' at the most basic level, and sometimes used as a euphemism for outright slave.

Thus the ironic power of the word's use in the play, the same irony that powers the motto 'Arbeit Macht Frei'.

[dejv]

Robota was involuntary work for feudal lord during middle ages. The class of people required to do such work were called robotnik (in singular).

[danielam]

"Robotnik" is still used in Polish to mean someone who does manual labor and the like. The pejorative "robol" translates as "prole" as in "proletarian".

[dejv]

When Capek created word robot using robotnik as a base, the term was not used for close to 200 years. Czech translation of robotnik in Polish would be delnik.