Humanoid

A humanoid is a hybrid term from Latin humanus "human" and the Greek -oeides expressing likeness. The term was coined in the year of 1918 to refer to fossils considered close to human but not strictly human, including species now classified as Homo such as the Neanderthals. The term more generally refers to any being whose body structure resembles that of a human, including upright stance and bipedalism. This includes anthropomorphic creatures in... more

A humanoid is a hybrid term from Latin humanus "human" and the Greek -oeides expressing likeness. The term was coined in the year of 1918 to refer to fossils considered close to human but not strictly human, including species now classified as Homo such as the Neanderthals. The term more generally refers to any being whose body structure resembles that of a human, including upright stance and bipedalism. This includes anthropomorphic creatures in mythology as well as humanoid robots, especially in the context of science fiction and fantasy fiction. An android or gynoid is a humanoid robot designed to look like a male or female human, respectively, although the words are frequently perceived to be synonymous. Most of the aliens in television and movies are presented as humanoid. Occasionally a rationale for the similarity of disparate alien races all sharing humanoid body structure is presented. For example, the episode "The Chase" of Star Trek: The Next Generation explained the... less