Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Order by: alphabetical | chronological
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| super-scientist n. (1928) | a person who studies, or creates inventions using, superscience n. |
| superspace n. (1939) | = hyperspace n. |
| supervillain n. (1917) | a person who uses superpowers or superscience for malevolent purposes |
| supervillainess n. (1970) | a woman who uses superpowers or superscience for malevolent purposes; a female supervillain n. |
| super-weapon n. (1931) | a weapon, esp. an extremely destructive one, based on highly advanced technology |
| sword and sorcery n. (1953) | a subgenre of fantasy n. 1 which describes the adventures of larger-than-life heroes or heroines in bronze-age or medieval settings, and especially their battles with magical or supernatural foes; = heroic fantasy n. |
| system-wide adj. (1935) | extending or existing throughout or across a solar system |
| tanstaafl n. (1949) | (used as a proverb to assert that everything has a cost, hidden or otherwise) |
| TARDIS n. 1 (1963) | in the British television series Doctor Who: a time machine having the outward form of a police telephone box; (hence) any means of travelling through time |
| Tardis n. 2 (1969) | (literally or figuratively) something with a larger capacity than its outward appearance suggests |
| Tardis-like adj. (1984) | denoting something whose capacity is greater than is suggested by its exterior appearance |
| Tau Cetan n. (1931) | a native or inhabitant of the Tau Ceti star system; (also) the language of Tau Cetans |
| Tau Cetan adj. (1959) | of or relating to the Tau Ceti star system or its inhabitants |
| technothriller n. (1978) | a thriller which employs science fictional technology or gadgetry |
| telekineticist n. (1949) | one who practises or has the power of telekinesis |
| telempath n. (1960) | a person who has the psionic ability to sense othersβ emotions |
| telempathic adj. (1958) | of or by means of telempathy n. |
| telempathy n. (1952) | the psionic ability to sense othersβ emotions |
| telepath n. (1889) | a person or being with the ability to use telepathy |
| telepath v. (1885) | to transmit (a message, image, etc.) by telepathy; (also) to communicate with (a person) by telepathy; also intransitive; cf. telepathize v. |
| telepathize v. (1894) | = telepath v. |
| teleport n. 1 (1878) | a device for conveying people or things instantaneously from one place to another, esp. a machine which breaks matter down into its constituent particles or converts it into energy, information, etc., and transmits it in this form to another location where it is reconstituted; teleporter n. 2 |
| teleport n. 2 (1949) | a person who is able to teleport, esp. by psychic rather than technological means; teleporter n. 1 |
| teleport n. 3 (1983) | an act of teleportation n. |
| teleport v. 1 (1931) | transitive to cause to move or travel by teleportation; esp. to convey or transport instantaneously from one place to another by means of an advanced technological device |
| teleport v. 2 (1944) | intransitive to transport oneself instantaneously from one place to another; to travel by teleportation; (also) to be transported in this way, esp. by means of an advanced technological device |
| teleportage n. (1936) | = teleportation n. |
| teleportation n. (1931) | instantaneous transportation from one place to another, esp. by means of a machine which breaks matter down into its constituent particles or converts it to energy, information, etc., and transmits it in this form to another location where it is reconstituted |