Čapek

American  

[chah-pek] / ˈtʃɑ pɛk /

noun

1. Karel 1890–1938, Czech playwright, novelist, and producer.

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Čapek British  

/ ˈtʃapɛk /

noun

1. Karel (ˈkarɛl). 1890–1938, Czech dramatist and novelist; author of R.U.R. (1921), which introduced the word "robot", and (with his brother Josef ) The Insect Play (1921).

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Example Sentences

Science fiction has been making promises and issuing warnings about humanoid machines since before the Czech writer Karel Čapek introduced the word “robot” in a 1920 play.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Blade Runner,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “A.I.”— it goes all the way back to Karel Čapek’s 1920 play “R.U.R.,” which I mention particularly for the fun fact that it is the source of the word robot, from the Czech “robota,” meaning “forced labor,” if you’d care to think about that.

From Los Angeles Times

The trajectory contained in Čapek's story were subsequently expressed in a long list of other texts and films, as well, from Isaac Asimov's "I Robot" to Stanley Kubrick's "2001" and Michael Crichton's "Westworld," to more recent films that have extended "Blade Runner's" message in the "Terminator" and "RoboCop" franchises, Alex Garland's "Ex Machina," "Automata" and "Chappie," along with episodes in Charlie Brooker's "Black Mirror" and Tim Miller's "Love, Death & Robots."

From Salon

We get the word robot from the Czech word robota, which comes to us in a stage play from 1920 by Karel Čapek.

From Scientific American

One hundred years ago, a play by the Czech author Karel Čapek introduced the word “robot,” telling the story of artificial factory workers designed to serve humans.

From Science Magazine