Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Order by: alphabetical | chronological
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| 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) | one of a set of possible future or past events |
| 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 |
| time machine n. (1894) | a device capable of transporting a person backwards or forwards in time n. |
| time opera n. (1953) | a subgenre of science fiction featuring adventure-driven, extravagantly dramatic plots based on time travel; a work in this genre |
| time paradox n. (1942) | a paradox caused by an action of a time traveller which alters history so that the action is no longer logically possible, such as travelling into the past to murder a dictator which leads to a peaceful world from which the time traveller would have had no reason to depart; cf. grandfather paradox n., temporal paradox n. |
| time-path n. (1934) | = timestream n. |
| time patrol n. (1955) | = time police n. |
| time police n. (1950) | officers who regulate time travel or other time-related phenomena; (specif.) officers who travel through time to attempt to prevent the past from being changed; a (government) body responsible for time-related phenomena |
| timequake n. (1954) | a sudden significant disturbance in the continuity of time; cf. time storm n., time-slip n. |
| time radio n. (1934) | a device that allows messages (but not physical objects) to be sent across time |