The term cyborg is used to designate a creature which is a mixture of organic and mechanical parts. Generally, the aim is to add to or enhance the abilities of an organism by using technology. Cyborgs are modified humans whereas androids are artificially created beings that resembles a human being. The word android derives from Greek Andr- 'man, human' and the suffix -eides used to mean 'of the species, kind, alike' (from eidos 'species')

The term was popularized by Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline in 1960 to refer to their conception of an enhanced human being who could survive in extraterrestrial environments. Their concept was the outcome of thinking about the need for an intimate relationship between human and machine as the new frontier of space exploration was beginning to take place. A designer of physiological instrumentation and electronic data-processing systems, Clynes was the chief research scientist in the Dynamic Simulation Laboratory at Rockland State Hospital in New York.

The term fyborg (a portmanteau of "functional" and "cyborg") was coined by Alexander Chislenko to differentiate between the cyborgs of science fiction and the everyday ways humans extend themselves using technologies such as contact lenses, hearing aids, and mobile phones.