Robovoice

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A voice that sounds artificial and machine-like, typically produced by electronic processing or a speech synthesizer
2. The flat, computerized sound of a voice altered to resemble a robot through digital effects or vocoding
3. An electronically generated or modified vocal tone that imitates the mechanical quality associated with robots

Etymology: "Robo-" is a borrowed syllable from "robot," which the Czech playwright Karel Čapek introduced in his play R.U.R. The machine workers in it were called "roboti," from Czech "robota," meaning forced labour. Čapek credited his brother Josef with suggesting the term. The meaning of "robot" later loosened from servitude to any machine that performs tasks. "Voice" is the older half, coming through Old French "voiz" from Latin "vox." Joined to "robo-," it likely describes a synthetic, mechanical-sounding speech, the flat tone of machine-generated talk. This is probably a modern formation built from those two parts, not an older term with its own documented history.

Synonyms: synthesized voice, artificial voice