Warbot

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A mechanized unit created specifically for engaging in warfare and combat situations
2. An autonomous machine engineered for attack and defense within military operations
3. A machine programmed and built to perform combat tasks on the battlefield

Etymology: "Warbot" is a plain compound built from two existing pieces: "war," the Old English "wær" meaning armed conflict, and "-bot," a clipped form of "robot." The second element is the more recent one. "Robot" entered English in 1923 from the Czech "robota," meaning forced labour, through the play "R.U.R." by Karel Čapek, and "-bot" came to function as a productive suffix for machines that act on their own, as in "chatbot" and "botnet." Joining the two gives a word that names a machine doing a soldier's job rather than a person doing it. The formation follows the same pattern as older compounds such as "warship" and "warplane," where "war" marks the purpose of the machine.