Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Order by: alphabetical | chronological ( asc | desc )
| First date | Word | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 1923 | weird n. (1923) | something that is weird adj.; weird fiction collectively |
| 1922 | earth person n. (1922) | a native or inhabitant of Earth; cf. earth people n. |
| 1921 | Betelgeusean adj. (1921) | of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Betelgeuse system or its inhabitants |
| 1921 | Betelgeusean n. 1 (1921) | a native or inhabitant of the Betelgeuse system |
| 1921 | deep space n. (1921) | that part of space far away from planets or stars |
| 1921 | geas n. (1921) | in fantasy writings: a spell; a magical compulsion |
| 1921 | 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 |
| 1920 | inner space n. (1920) | the human mind; the innermost parts of oneβs psyche |
| 1920 | light-hour n. (1920) | the distance light travels in one hour |
| 1920 | moon rocket n. (1920) | a rocket designed for travel to the Moon |
| 1920 | robot n. (1920) | a (semi-)intelligent artificial being typically made of metal and resembling in some way a human or other animal |
| 1920 | sentient adj. (1920) | sapient; intelligent |
| 1920 | world-building n. (1920) | the creation of fictional realms and their geology, geography, biology, etc., often including the history and culture of their inhabitants |
| 1919 | alien adj. (1919) | of or pertaining to an (intelligent) being or beings from another planet; that derives from another world |
| 1919 | different story n. (1919) | esp. in the early pulp era: a science fiction, fantasy, or weird story; an impossible story |
| 1919 | fanboy n. (1919) | a male fan (in later use chiefly of comics, film, music, or science fiction), esp. an obsessive one |
| 1919 | moon flight n. (1919) | a flight to the Moon |
| 1919 | superscientific adj. (1919) | of or pertaining to superscience n.; relating to or generated by the products of super-science |
| 1919 | Venerian n. 1 (1919) | a native or inhabitant of Venus; = Venusian n. 1 |
| 1919 | Venerian adj. (1919) | pertaining to Venus or Venusians; = Venustian adj. |
| 1918 | cycle n. (1918) | a (specific) interval of time |
| 1918 | planeteer n. (1918) | someone who travels to or explores other planets |
| 1917 | energy gun n. (1917) | a weapon firing a beam of energy n.; = ray gun n. |
| 1917 | ray gun n. (1917) | a (typically) hand-held device that emits rays, esp. destructive or harmful ones; cf. slightly earlier ray projector n. |
| 1917 | supervillain n. (1917) | a person who uses superpowers or superscience for malevolent purposes |
| 1916 | posthuman adj. (1916) | of or relating to a hypothetical species that might evolve from human beings, as by means of genetic or bionic augmentation; cf. posthuman n. |
| 1916 | ray projector n. (1916) | a large ray gun n. |
| 1916 | scientifiction n. (1916) | = science fiction n. 2 |
| 1915 | visiphone n. (1915) | = videophone n. |
| 1914 | atomic engine n. (1914) | an engine powered by nuclear energy |
| 1914 | dayside n. (1914) | the side of a planet or moon that is in daylight, sometimes in the context of a planet with one side permanently facing its sun |
| 1914 | imaginative adj. (1914) | denoting a genre of literature, etc. that is not realistic or mimetic; science fiction, fantasy, and horror collectively |
| 1914 | light-minute n. (1914) | the distance light travels in one minute |
| 1914 | nightside n. (1914) | that part of an astronomical body facing away from the nearest star; cf. darkside n. 1, farside n. |
| 1914 | time travel n. (1914) | the activity of travelling into the past or future; hypothetical movement through time n. |