Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Order by: alphabetical | chronological ( asc | desc )
| First date | Word | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 1944 | unhuman n. (1944) | an intelligent nonhuman entity; alien n.; cf. non-human n. |
| 1945 | beamer n. (1945) | a device (esp. a weapon) that emits a beam of energy |
| 1945 | blowup n. (1945) | a war that destroys a culture or a large part of the population |
| 1945 | first contact n. (1945) | the first meeting between two different intelligent species |
| 1945 | illo n. (1945) | an illustration |
| 1945 | kiloday n. (1945) | a period of one thousand days |
| 1945 | kiloyear n. (1945) | a period of one thousand years |
| 1945 | mundane adj. 1 (1945) | belonging or relating to the world which lies outside the sphere of interest of a particular group of enthusiasts (used esp. among science fiction fans, originally of mainstream fiction) |
| 1945 | off-planet adj. (1945) | originating on another planet; located away from a (particular) planet |
| 1945 | overdrive n. (1945) | = hyperdrive n. |
| 1945 | planet v. (1945) | to land on or arrive at a planet; hence planeted adj. |
| 1945 | planet-hopping n. (1945) | the action of making (short) trips from one planet to another |
| 1945 | psychohistorian n. (1945) | an expert in psychohistory n. |
| 1945 | robo- prefix (1945) | (used to form nouns with the sense βa robotic or automatic βββ) |
| 1945 | space platform n. (1945) | = space station n. |
| 1945 | videophone v. (1945) | to call or speak to via videophone n.; to make a call on a videophone n. |
| 1946 | braintape n. (1946) | a recording of the (entire) contents of a personβs mind |
| 1946 | combozine n. (1946) | a collection of zines bound or published together, esp. for distribution at a convention |
| 1946 | hyperdrive n. (1946) | a spaceship drive that enables travel faster than the speed of light; (also) the state of such travel; cf. hyperspace n. |
| 1946 | jet car n. (1946) | a form of aircar powered by jets |
| 1946 | mundane n. 1 (1946) | a non-imaginative story |
| 1946 | non-terrestrial n. (1946) | an (intelligent) being that is not from Earth; = extraterrestrial n., alien n. |
| 1946 | planet-hopping adj. (1946) | that planet-hops; of or relating to planet-hopping n. |
| 1946 | pocket universe n. (1946) | a universe or reality completely separate from ours which is much smaller, may have different natural laws, and may be artificially created |
| 1946 | stun gun n. (1946) | a weapon that renders a victim unconscious or incapacitated without causing serious injury; cf. earlier stunner n. |
| 1946 | teleporting n. (1946) | the action of teleporting; = teleportation n. |
| 1947 | astroengineer n. (1947) | an engineer who works on spacecraft or in space; a person who designs or operates the propulsion systems of spacecraft |
| 1947 | crudzine n. (1947) | a zine regarded as low quality |
| 1947 | earthie n. (1947) | = earthling n. |
| 1947 | Earthside adv. (1947) | on or towards Earth |
| 1947 | flying saucer n. (1947) | any of various unidentified disc- or saucer-shaped objects reported as appearing in the sky, presumed to be of extraterrestrial origin; (hence) a saucer-shaped alien spacecraft |
| 1947 | Frankenstein complex n. (1947) | Isaac Asimovβs term for: the anxiety and distrust humans feel for robots |
| 1947 | hypospray n. (1947) | an injection device that forces a fine, high-pressure jet of fluid through the skin without breaking it |
| 1947 | ion drive n. (1947) | a spacecraft propulsion system that uses electrically accelerated ions |