-oid \-oid\ (-oid) suff. [Gr. ?, fr. e'i^dos form, akin to ? to
   see, and E. wit: cf. F. -o["i]de, L. -o["i]des.]
   A suffix or combining form meaning like, resembling, in the
   form of; as in anthropoid, asteroid, spheroid.
   [1913 Webster]

	

	OID
     Object IDentifier (OSI)

	

	-oid suff. [from Greek suffix -oid = `in the image of'] 1. Used as in
   mainstream slang English to indicate a poor imitation, a counterfeit, or
   some otherwise slightly bogus resemblance. Hackers will happily use it
   with all sorts of non-Greco/Latin stem words that wouldn't keep company
   with it in mainstream English. For example, "He's a nerdoid" means that
   he superficially resembles a nerd but can't make the grade; a `modemoid'
   might be a 300-baud box (Real Modems run at 28.8 or up); a `computeroid'
   might be any bitty box. The word `keyboid' could be used to describe a
   chiclet keyboard, but would have to be written; spoken, it would
   confuse the listener as to the speaker's city of origin. 2. More
   specifically, an indicator for `resembling an android' which in the past
   has been confined to science-fiction fans and hackers. It too has
   recently (in 1991) started to go mainstream (most notably in the term
   `trendoid' for victims of terminal hipness). This is probably traceable
   to the popularization of the term droid in "Star Wars" and its
   sequels. (See also windoid.)

   Coinages in both forms have been common in science fiction for at
   least fifty years, and hackers (who are often SF fans) have probably
   been making `-oid' jargon for almost that long [though GLS and I can
   personally confirm only that they were already common in the mid-1970s
   --ESR].

	

	OID
     
        object identifier

	

	-oid
     
         (from "android") A suffix used as in mainstream
        English to indicate a poor imitation, a counterfeit, or some
        otherwise slightly bogus resemblance.  Hackers will happily
        use it with all sorts of non-Greco/Latin stem words that
        wouldn't keep company with it in mainstream English.  For
        example, "He's a nerdoid" means that he superficially
        resembles a nerd but can't make the grade; a "modemoid" might
        be a 300-baud modem (Real Modems run at 144000 or up); a
        "computeroid" might be any bitty box.
     
        "-oid" can also mean "resembling an android", which was once
        confined to science-fiction fans and hackers.  It too has
        recently (in 1991) started to go mainstream (most notably in
        the term "trendoid" for victims of terminal hipness).  This is
        probably traceable to the popularisation of the term droid
        in "Star Wars" and its sequels.
     
        Coinages in both forms have been common in science fiction for
        at least fifty years, and hackers (who are often SF fans) have
        probably been making "-oid" jargon for almost that long
        (though GLS and ESR can personally confirm only that they
        were already common in the mid-1970s).
     
        [Jargon File]
     
        (1999-07-10)