Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Order by: alphabetical | chronological ( asc | desc )
| First date | Word | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | tesser v. (1962) | in Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time: to travel through space by means of a tesseract n. |
| 1962 | tesseract n. (1962) | in Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time: a means of travelling through space by manipulating the dimensions of spacetime |
| 1962 | xeno- prefix (1962) | (used to form words indicating that the base element is or relates to an alien) |
| 1961 | COA n. (1961) | notification of a change of address |
| 1961 | epic fantasy n. (1961) | = high fantasy n.; = sword and sorcery n. |
| 1961 | fan film n. (1961) | a movie made by a fan; audiovisual fan fiction n. |
| 1961 | grok v. (1961) | to perceive or understand fully; to feel empathy with; to enjoy, appreciate |
| 1961 | heroic fantasy n. (1961) | = sword and sorcery n. |
| 1961 | in-system adv. (1961) | in or into a solar system; toward the center of a solar system; cf. out-system adv. |
| 1961 | jumpspace n. (1961) | hyperspace n.; the (notional) space in which ships travel during a jump |
| 1961 | light n. 2 (1961) | a light year |
| 1961 | loc n. (1961) | a letter written to a magazine, esp. a fanzine |
| 1961 | sensawunda n. (1961) | = sense of wonder n. |
| 1961 | starfarer n. (1961) | an interstellar traveller |
| 1960 | chrononaut n. (1960) | = time traveller n. |
| 1960 | cryogenics n. (1960) | = cryostasis n.; cryonics n. |
| 1960 | cyborg n. (1960) | a living organism whose body has been modified to include both biological and mechanical components |
| 1960 | feghoot n. (1960) | a very short story that culminates in an (elaborate) pun |
| 1960 | kipple n. (1960) | useless or unwanted (household) objects; junk; rubbish |
| 1960 | post-apocalyptic adj. (1960) | pertaining to a time or setting after the collapse of civilization |
| 1960 | sapient n. (1960) | an intelligent alien |
| 1960 | starfaring adj. (1960) | pertaining to interstellar travel |
| 1960 | Sturgeon’s Law n. (1960) | a humorous aphorism which maintains that most of any body of published material, knowledge, etc., or (more generally) of everything is worthless: based on a statement by Theodore Sturgeon, usually later cited as ‘90 per cent of everything is crap’ |
| 1960 | superheroine n. (1960) | a woman who uses superpowers or superscience for benevolent purposes; a female superhero n. |
| 1960 | telempath n. (1960) | a person who has the psionic ability to sense others’ emotions |
| 1959 | Betelgeusean n. 2 (1959) | the language of Betelgeuseans |
| 1959 | congoing n. (1959) | attendance at (usually science fiction) conventions |
| 1959 | empathic adj. (1959) | having the ability of an empath n. |
| 1959 | faanish adj. (1959) | of or relating to fandom, esp. on a superficial level; typical of a faan n. |
| 1959 | fillo n. (1959) | a small illustration used to fill space, esp. in a fanzine |
| 1959 | gafiate v. (1959) | to cease involvement with science fiction fandom |
| 1959 | gafiation n. (1959) | the state of having quit fandom; cf. gafia n. 2 |
| 1959 | intergalactically adv. (1959) | between or among galaxies; (broadly) (used as an intensive), extremely, incredibly |
| 1959 | jump drive n. (1959) | a spacecraft drive that enables a ship to journey through hyperspace or to engage in any instantaneous (long-distance) travel; cf. jump n., jump v. |