# android vs. droid **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/android-vs-droid/76241 "2001-08-14T18:56:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/android-vs-droid/76241/1 "2001-08-14T18:56:55Z")
What is the difference between an android and a droid? When was the term _droid_ first used? I always thought the latter was a slight abbreviation of the former (I even remember seeing it spelled _'droid_ w/an apostrophe at times). I also don’t remember “droid” ever being used outside of a **Star Wars** context, but I can’t say I’m completely up on my sf literature either. Any nuances I’m missing? ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/android-vs-droid/76241/2 "2001-08-14T19:02:21Z")
As to the definition, the dictionary is your friend – ‘droid’ is the diminutive of android. ( [http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=droid](http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=droid) ) ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/android-vs-droid/76241/3 "2001-08-14T19:12:27Z")
Well, in the _Star Wars_ world “droids” are obviously robots, machines created to serve humanoids et al. I don’t know how common the word was in Sci-Fi realms before that, but I imagine Lucas wasn’t one of the first to use it. The Webster defintion for android is this: Main Entry: an·droid Pronunciation: 'an-"droid Function: noun Etymology: Late Greek androeidEs manlike, from Greek andr- + -oeidEs -oid Date: circa 1751 : a mobile robot usually with a human form I’ve seen the word “android” used to describe a part man / part machine creature, similar to the meaning or “cyborg”. Webster to a degree links the word android to a more human-like robot. Keeping in mind that Sci-fi isn’t exactly a precise world, and authors tend to make their own definitions for things you probably aren’t going to get a concrete answer. I’d propose that perhaps Lucas in _Star Wars_ intentionally used the word “droid” and not “android” to seperate his robots from the strictly human-like ones that were probably accepted as the standard in early Sci-fi. By truncating the word he was safely able to label all the characters, both C-3PO and R2-D2, as droids, where really threepio is the only “android” of the pair. Perhaps a more adept Sci-Fi geek can step in and offer a more concrete demarcation between the two based on some Sci-Fi reference material that the casual reader may not know about, similar to the way in which most “fantasy” games and books share the same definitions for elves, fairies, and ogres. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/android-vs-droid/76241/4 "2001-08-14T19:46:15Z")
R2D2 and C3PO are actually called “Robots” _once_ in the first **Star Wars** film (it’s at the point where Luke realizes that the Starm Troopers will trace the 'droids to his aunt and uncle’s). I always assumed that 'droids was short for “androids”. I could swear I’ve seen it written as “droids” and as “'droids”, the latter form re-inforcing the point. In either case, it’s a shorter, more familiar form. I suspect it’s heavily influenced by “drones”, the name given to the caretaker robots in the movie **Silent Running**. Side note: The word “Robots”, as everyone knows by now, comes from Karel Capek’s play **R.U.R.** (“Rossum’s Universal Robots”), derived ultimately from “robotnik” = “worker”. The titular 'bots are actually artifical biological organisms, not metal people. By contrast, “Androids” seems to have been introduced in sf as a name for artificial biological organisms, after “robots” got hijacked for metal people. It’s ironic that “droids” is also now being applied to metal people instead of biologicals. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/android-vs-droid/76241/5 "2001-08-14T20:43:28Z")
In the Star Wars universe, “droid” is supposed to be short for “Droideka”. “Droid” is also used once in Alien3. ---
**Author:** ![pezwookiee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@pezwookiee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezwookiee)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/android-vs-droid/76241/6 "2001-08-14T21:43:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by enolancooper \* > \*\*In the Star Wars universe, “droid” is supposed to be > short for “Droideka”. > > “Droid” is also used once in Alien3. \*\* A bit of clarification from a fellow Star Wars fan: The term “Droideka” is from Episode I and only refers to the Destroyer Droids (those guys that rolled up into balls and shot big lasers). Just another word for Destroyer Droid.