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"I received a nice letter the other day from the Dalai Lama. He had read 'The Nine Billion Names of God'. It is about a computer at a Tibetan monastery."
- Arthur C. Clarke
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| Gynoid | ||
| A female android. |
This term was not coined by science fiction writers.
In science fiction, the word "gynoid" has come to mean a female robot, although Jones’ book seems to refer to her as having a biological origin. As far as I know, this is the first time it was used in a science fiction story; however, see the discussion below.
| A glistening finger tapped Cho on the shoulder: "There is no doubt about it. This is a metagenetic android."
"No I'm not!" said Cho. And the whole room was startled to hear her speak. "I'm sorry. Gynoid, I meant of course. That's all I wanted to know, anyway. We were pretty sure, but we thought we'd like to confirm it. It's very satisfying. A very satisfying turn of events." Derveet stared at what was Cho: awe greater than horror, greater than any feeling... ...The best of them came from a special pleasure city in the east. They were called "wayang legong" - angel dolls. They were not machines but perfect lifelong companions. They were invulnerable to fire, disease, any kind of weapon; invulnerable to time..." |
| Technovelgy from Divine Endurance,
by Gwyneth Jones. Published by Allen and Unwin in 1984 Additional resources -
|
This word seems to have been backformed from android, which uses the Greek root for "man" and literally means "man-shaped".
The word "gynoid" is not currently used in medicine, but was in use in the first half of the twentieth century, if not earlier. For example, a medical textbook might distinguish between the form taken by "android obesity" as opposed to "gynoid obesity".
Compare to robotess from R.U.R. by Karel Capek.
Compare to the manufactured wife from A Wife Manufactured to Order (1895) by Alice W. Fuller, the
psychophonic nurse from The Psychophonic Nurse (1928) by David H. Keller, the
teleoperated robot surrogate from The Robot and the Lady (1938) by Manly Wade Wellman, the
mechanical bride from The Mechanical Bride (1954) by Fritz Leiber, the
maid-robot from The Midas Plague (1954) by Frederik Pohl and the
Nanny from Nanny (1955) by Philip K. Dick.
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