Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Order by: alphabetical | chronological
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| spaceward adv. (1872) | towards or in the direction of space |
| space warp n. (1935) | a distortion of space-time that enables space travellers to make journeys at faster-than-light speeds |
| spaceway n. (1933) | an established route through space; usu. in pl. spaceways space as an area in which people travel; cf. planet v. |
| spacewoman n. (1937) | a female space traveller |
| spaceworthiness n. (1933) | the condition of being spaceworthy adj. |
| spaceworthy adj. (1931) | (of a person) in a fit condition for space travel; (of an object, esp. a vehicle) in a fit condition for use in space |
| spacewreck n. (1933) | the destruction of a spacecraft; a wrecked spacecraft |
| spacewrecked adj. (1932) | wrecked in space |
| space yacht n. (1931) | a luxurious spaceship for personal use |
| 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. (1963) | in the fictional world of the comic book hero Spider-Man: the precognitive ability to anticipate (and react to) dangerous situations beyond the normal range of human senses; (hence, in figurative or allusive use) a premonition; intuition; insight |
| spidey sense n. (1963) | = 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 |
| spinward adv. (1966) | in the direction that something (as a space station or a galaxy) is rotating |
| 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. (1932) | 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. 1 |
| 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. |