Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Order by: alphabetical | chronological
Word | Definition |
---|---|
terrestrian adj. (1930) | of Earth |
tesser v. (1962) | in Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time: to travel through space by means of a tesseract n. |
tesseract n. (1962) | in Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time: a means of travelling through space by manipulating the dimensions of spacetime |
thionite n. (1937) | an addictive drug which induces euphoric dreams |
thought-controlled adj. (1934) | of devices, computers, etc.: controlled by a person’s thoughts or neural impulses |
thought-reading machine n. (1931) | a machine that can read a person’s thoughts |
thought screen n. (1931) | = thought shield n. |
thought shield n. (1931) | a mental barrier that prevents one’s thoughts from being read by a telepath; = mind shield n. |
thought-variant n. (1933) | a story characterized by a focus on significant ideas rather than action |
thought wave n. (1849) | a thought emanating from one's mind, esp. a telepathic emanation; a thought or thoughts travelling on a hypothetical medium of thought transfer |
three-D n. (1955) | a device or system capable of transmitting or displaying a three dimensional image; (also) a three-dimensional image; cf. tri-D n. |
threedy n. (1984) | three-dimensional television or film |
three vee n. (1954) | a device capable of transmitting or displaying a (moving) three dimensional image |
thruster n. (1949) | an engine that creates thrust, esp. a small rocket engine used to adjust the attitude or course of a spacecraft in flight |
thud and blunder n. (1940) | (a disparaging term for) an adventure story that features violent exploits |
tie-in n. (1949) | a book, film, or the like published to take advantage of the appearance of the same work in another medium |
tight-beam n. (1930) | a highly focused energy beam, esp. one that conveys communications; a device that sends such a beam; a message sent by such a device |
tight-beam v. (1959) | to send (esp. a message) by means of a tight-beam n.; to send to (someone) by means of a tight-beam n.; also intrans. |
tight-beamed adj. (1951) | of a message: sent by means of a tight-beam n. |
time n. (1866) | time viewed as a medium through which travel into the past or future is hypothesized or imagined to be possible |
time barrier n. (1933) | something (either inherent or created) that prevents travel through time |
time binding n. (1921) | in General Semantics: the characteristically human ability to transmit knowledge to succeeding generations by means of (written) language; (hence, in Fandom) the act of documenting fannish activities |
time cop n. (1953) | a member of the time police n. |
time crime n. (1955) | a violation of time travel laws, esp. an illegal attempt to change the past; such violations collectively; cf. time police n. |
time fault n. (1934) | a disturbance in time; a place where time travel is possible, or where time progresses in unpredictable ways; cf. time-slip n., time storm n. |
time hopper n. 1 (1955) | = time machine n. |
time hopper n. 2 (1967) | = time traveller n. |
timeline n. (1935) | the set of all events from past to future, esp. when regarded as one of many possible such sets |
time lord n. (1969) | in the British television series Doctor Who: one of a race of humanoid aliens from the planet Gallifrey who are able to control time-travel technology |