Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Order by: alphabetical | chronological
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| Marsian adj. (1882) | of or relating to the the planet Mars or its inhabitants; = Martian adj. |
| marsport n. (1931) | a spaceport on Mars |
| marsquake n. (1912) | seismic activity on the surface of Mars |
| Martian n. 1 (1868) | a native or inhabitant of the planet Mars; cf. earlier Marsian n. 1 |
| Martian n. 2 (1898) | the language of Martians |
| Martian adj. (1873) | of or relating to the the planet Mars or its inhabitants |
| Martianess n. (1898) | a female Martian |
| Mary Sue n. (1976) | a writer who inserts an idealized version of themselves in their own fan fiction n.; such a story or character |
| materialize v. (1927) | to appear in a (reconstituted) physical form after travelling through space or time by means of a matter transmitter or similar device |
| matrix n. (1976) | with the: = cyberspace n. |
| matter transmission n. (1931) | the transportation of material objects by a process analogous to radio transmission; cf. matter transmitter n. |
| matter transmitter n. (1931) | a device for conveying matter over a distance by transforming it into energy or information, beaming this to another location, and reconstituting the original matter at the destination; cf. matter transmission n. |
| matter-transmitting adj. (1925) | designating or relating to a matter transmitter n. |
| matter transporter n. (1956) | = matter transmitter n.; = transporter n. |
| meat puppet n. (1984) | the human body; a physical human being, esp. in contrast to virtual reality or artificial intelligence |
| meatspace n. (1993) | the physical world, in contrast to cyberspace or a virtual environment; cf. slightly earlier meat world n. |
| meat world n. (1992) | = meatspace n. |
| mech n. (1938) | = robot n.; (also) = mecha n. 1 |
| mecha n. 1 (1986) | chiefly in anime or manga: a large combat robot having humanoid form, typically controlled by an occupant |
| mecha n. 2 (1992) | a genre, show, movie, etc. featuring mecha n. 1 |
| medbot n. (1977) | a bot that specializes in medical care |
| medikit n. (1952) | a small collection of equipment and supplies used for emergency medical treatment, a first-aid kit; (also) a device providing automated medical functions |
| megayear n. (1935) | a million years |
| men in black n. (1956) | dark-clothed men of unknown identity or origin, who supposedly visit those who have encountered a UFO or alien in order to prevent them from publicizing their experience |
| Mercurian n. (1698) | a native or inhabitant of Mercury |
| Mercurian adj. (1897) | of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the planet Mercury or its inhabitants |
| message rocket n. (1933) | a (small) rocket used to carry a message |
| metaverse n. (1992) | a computer-generated environment within which users can interact with one another and their surroundings, a virtual world; (more generally) the notional environment in which users of networked computers interact; = cyberspace n. |
| meteor storm n. (1870) | a particularly intense meteor shower, esp. occurring when the earth intercepts a meteor stream soon after the originating comet has passed; an intense encounter with a stream of meteors in space |
| micro book n. (1932) | a book having the text reproduced at a reduced size by the use of microphotography or microprinting |
| midspace n. (1900) | outer space, viewed as an area in its own right |
| midspace adj. (1931) | occurring in midspace n. |
| military science fiction n. (1977) | a subgenre of science fiction that focuses on the military and warfare, esp. set in outer space or on other worlds |
| military SF n. (1978) | = military science fiction n. |