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What is the difference between computer and robot?

computer | robot |

As nouns the difference between computer and robot

is that computer is a person employed to perform computations; one who computes while robot is a machine built to carry out some complex task or group of tasks, especially one which can be programmed.

computer

Noun

(en noun)
  • (now, rare, chiefly, historical) A person employed to perform computations; one who computes.
  • * 1927 , J. B. S. Haldane, Possible Worlds and Other Essays , page 173
  • Only a few years ago Mr. Powers, an American computer , disproved a hypothesis about prime numbers which had held the field for more than 250 years.
  • * 2003 , (Bill Bryson), A Short History of Nearly Everything , BCA, page 116:
  • One Harvard computer , Annie Jump Cannon, used her repetitive acquaintance with the stars to devise a system of stellar classifications so practical that it is still in use today.
  • by restriction, a male computer, where the female computer is called a computress
  • A programmable electronic device that performs mathematical calculations and logical operations, especially one that can process, store and retrieve large amounts of data very quickly; now especially, a small one for personal or home use employed for manipulating text or graphics, accessing the Internet, or playing games or media.
  • Synonyms

    * (programmable device that performs logical operations) automatic data processing machine, processor, 'puter (informal), box (slang), machine, calculator, portable computer, laptop * See also

    Hyponyms

    * (programmable device that performs logical operations) desktop, laptop * (a person employed to perform computations) computress (f)

    Antonyms

    * (a person employed to perform computations) computress (f) (when "computer" is used to represent the masculine form)

    Derived terms

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    See also

    * chip * data processing * desktop * hardware * laptop * mainframe * microprocessor 1000 English basic words ----

    robot

    English

    (wikipedia robot)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A machine built to carry out some complex task or group of tasks, especially one which can be programmed.
  • * 2010 , Tim Webb, The Guardian , 16 May 2010:
  • It's painfully slow and complex work which has never been attempted before in these conditions: the small box-shaped robots , equipped with two claws, are operating in almost freezing water 5,000ft below the surface, in pitch black and strong currents.
  • (chiefly, science fiction) An intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal.
  • * 2010 , Tom Chivers and Iain McDiarmid, The Telegraph , 26 Jan 2010:
  • The robots in Dick's novel, loosely adapted by Ridley Scott into the film Blade Runner, were so similar to humans that when they went rogue, trained bounty hunters were called in to perform psychological tests to see whether suspected androids lacked human empathy.
  • (figuratively) A person who does not seem to have any emotions.
  • * Murray N. Rothbard, Making Economic Sense (page xiv)
  • Yet surely he was a humorless robot of a man, spewing forth lonely and bitter critiques of all those lesser mortals with whom he could not identify.
  • (South Africa) A traffic light (from earlier robot policeman ).
  • (surveying) A theodolite which follows the movements of a prism and can be used by a one-man crew.
  • A style of dance popular in disco whereby the dancer impersonates the movement of a robot
  • Synonyms

    * See

    Hypernyms

    * automaton

    Hyponyms

    * android

    Derived terms

    * bot * -bot * robotic * robotics * robo-

    See also

    * artificial intelligence * computer * cyborg * domotics * pedipulator * robot revolution South African English English terms derived from fiction ----