In the animal kingdom, a drone is a reproductive male bee or ant.

 

In aviation, a drone is a pilotless aircraft (from 1946).

 

In the Star Trek universe, a drone is a member of the Borg Collective. A Borg drone, like its insect counterpart, is efficient, expendable, and single-minded. Borg drones are designed to carry out a specific task without boredom or fatigue, and can labor continuously for several days before regenerating. To assist in their specific task, each drone is supplied with a unique set of implants. All Borg drones are also equipped with sufficient technology to maintain their biological halves indefinitely; hence, Borg drones cannot die of old age. The loss of a single drone or even the crew of an entire ship has litte effect on the Collective as a whole: the lost drones are easily replaced by newly assimilated drones. See also hive intelligence.