Meanings
waldo1
plural waldos · plural waldoes
- Synonym of telefactor.
Waldo flexed and extended his fingers gently; the two pairs of waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.
1940, Robert A. Heinlein, WaldoSynonyms: telefactor, master-slave manipulator, telemanipulator, telefactor
Waldo2
alternative Waldeve · alternative Waldef · alternative historical obsolete Waltheof
- A male given name from Old English, in modern American use transferred back from the surname.
He was our first baby, born September 4, 1939, our only boy. Named Waldo after a kind of bakin powder I liked. 'Waldo's Cream Powder.'
2002, Annie Proulx, That Old Ace in the Hole, →ISBN, page 217 - A surname transferred from the given name.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of telefactor.
Origin
waldo · noun
From the Robert A. Heinlein story Waldo, published in Astounding in 1940, derived from the name of the eponymous protagonist, Waldo F. Jones, who invented remote manipulators to overcome his own myasthenia gravis.
Full word history & related roots →Waldo · proper noun
- Old Englishweald“power”
- EnglishWaldo
English surname, from the obsolete English given name Waltheof, from Old English weald (“power”) + þēof (“thief”), as in "one who snatched victory from battle." Comparable to, or ultimately Anglicized from, the Old Norse equivalent Valthiófr, from vald + *ᚦᛖᚢᛒᚨᛉ (*þeubaʀ). Compare Walthall, Waldie.
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch robotarm
- robotarmTranslations
Cite this entry
waldo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waldo
“waldo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waldo. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “waldo,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waldo.
Source: waldo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.