cyborg means A being which is part machine and part organic. It carries an Arena rating of 1584, earned across 19 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cyborg ranks #65 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,261 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #2,954 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #5,087 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
cyborg is pronounced /ˈsaɪ.bɔː(ɹ)ɡ/.
Why “cyborg” is a great word
A being, especially a human, with both organic body parts and integrated biomechatronic or electronic prostheses. Blend of cybernetic (relating to automatic control systems in living beings and machines) and organism (a living entity), coined in 1960 by Austrian neuroscientist Manfred Clynes. Unlike an android (a wholly synthetic facsimile) or the adjective bionic (describing the enhanced parts themselves), “cyborg” denotes the essential, unsettling union. It is the quiet whir of a myoelectric hand, the diabetic whose implanted pump weaves insulin through dreams, and the veteran who feels the phantom weight of a lost arm answered by electrodes—a testament to the porous and ever-shifting boundary between what is born and what is built.
Etymology
Blend of cybernetic + organism. Coined by Austrian neuroscientist Manfred Clynes in 1960.
noun
- A being which is part machine and part organic.e.g.“I would not classify the Tin Woodman as magical robot, but more of a magical cyborg, if anything.” — 1981, Teri (Pettit at PARC-MAXC), fa.sf-lovers newsgroup, "Re: SF-LOVERS Digest V3 #122", May 15
- A human, animal or other being with electronic or bionic prostheses.
verb
- To convert (something) into a cyborg.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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