Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Order by: alphabetical | chronological
Word | Definition |
---|---|
spacing n. 1 (1942) | the act of travelling in space; (also) the profession of working in space |
spacing n. 2 (1972) | the act of executing a person by forcing them into space without a spacesuit; cf. space v. 2 |
speculative fiction n. 1 (1889) | = science fiction n. 2; (sometimes spec.) hard science fiction n. |
speculative fiction n. 2 (1952) | = imaginative fiction |
speculative fiction n. 3 (1968) | fiction which includes science fictional elements but which is regarded as not part of the genre of science fiction, as because it is soft science fiction, or to avoid a stigma felt to be associated with the term ‘science fiction’ |
speeder n. (1932) | any of various small personal vehicles, typically travelling on or very close to the ground |
Spider-Man principle n. (2003) | the adage ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ |
spider sense n. (1975) | in the fictional world of the comic book hero Spider-Man: the precognitive ability to anticipate (and react to) dangerous situations; (hence, in figurative or allusive use) a premonition; intuition; insight |
spidey sense n. (1977) | = spider sense n. |
spindizzy n. (1950) | in James Blish’s City in Flight series: a faster-than-light antigravity drive powered by a field that alters the magnetic rotation of atoms |
splatterpunk n. 1 (1987) | a subgenre of horror fiction characterized by the frequent and graphic description of grisly violence, bloody deaths, and extreme sexual situations; (in later use also) a similar genre of movies, video games, etc. |
splatterpunk n. 2 (1987) | an author of splatterpunk writing |
spy ray n. (1934) | a ray that allows a user to detect sound, images, or thoughts at a distant location or through a barrier |
Standard n. (1952) | (the name of) a language spoken on multiple worlds or by multiple species; the common language of a group or place; cf. Galactic n. 2 |
starbase n. (1944) | an outpost in space, or on a planet remote from the homeworld, used to facilitate military, governmental, or commercial activities |
star drive n. (1948) | a propulsion device for a spaceship capable of interstellar travel, esp. one that permits the ship to travel faster than light; cf. earlier space drive n. |
starfarer n. (1961) | an interstellar traveller |
starfaring n. (1973) | interstellar traveling |
starfaring adj. (1960) | pertaining to interstellar travel |
starfleet n. (1939) | an organized group of starships, esp. one under military control; a division of a military responsible for interstellar activities |
stargate n. (1958) | a portal or device that transports something to another point in the universe (usually another such location or device) in a manner that bypasses the intervening space; cf. gate n., jump gate n. |
star lane n. (1939) | = space lane n. |
star liner n. (1932) | = space liner n. |
starport n. (1950) | a place where (interstellar) spacecraft can take off and land; = spaceport n. |
starship n. (1926) | a spaceship capable of interstellar travel |
star system n. (1929) | a planetary system; = solar system n. |
starway n. (1932) | an established route between stars; usu. pl. starways the realm of space travel in general; cf. spaceway n. |
stasis field n. (1942) | an enclosed area within which time is stopped |
steampunk n. 1 (1987) | a writer of steampunk n. 2 |
steampunk n. 2 (1987) | a subgenre of science fiction which has a historical setting (esp. based on industrialized, nineteenth-century society) and characteristically features steam-powered, mechanized machinery rather than electronic technology |
steampunkish adj. (1993) | of, pertaining to, or characteristic of steampunk n. 2 |
stellar cartography n. (1883) | a branch of cartography concerned with astronomical objects; (occas. cap.) an organizational unit or work area devoted to this; cf. astrogation n. |