The contribution is dedicated to the history of the word robot, notably to its meaning transformations during the 20th (and a beginning of the 21st) century. In order to show the vitality of Karel Capeks concept of robot we will deal with fields of art, popular culture, science and engineering. We assert that vitality of Capeks robot is a result of both, its ability to incorporate different connotations and representations (as a concept) and to provoke vide range of emotional reactions(as a physical object).