Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Order by: alphabetical | chronological
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| cloaking device n. (1968) | a device or system for rendering something invisible or undetectable |
| clone n. (1966) | any member of a hypothetical population of artificially produced, identical beings; (also) a duplicate of a living person |
| COA n. (1961) | notification of a change of address |
| cold fusion n. (1956) | nuclear fusion taking place at temperature lower than ordinarily required, spec. at or near room temperature |
| cold sleep n. (1941) | a form of suspended animation in which the subjects are kept at very cold temperatures |
| cold sleep v. (1956) | to undergo suspended animation for a period of time; (transitive) (rare) to put a person into cold sleep n. |
| cold sleeper n. (1969) | a person in cold sleep |
| collapsium n. (1958) | any of a variety of extremely high-density substances |
| colony planet n. (1942) | a planet occupied by settlers (or their descendants) from another planet or area, typically under the political control of the parent state |
| combozine n. (1946) | a collection of zines bound or published together, esp. for distribution at a convention |
| commlink n. (1974) | a communication link; a communication device |
| communicator n. (1905) | a device used for communication, esp. a small personal device used for voice communication |
| companion n. (1963) | in the British television series Doctor Who: any of the usually human characters who (regularly) travel with the Doctor |
| completism n. (1944) | the desire to have or collect a complete set of something |
| completist n. (1940) | one who wishes to have or collect complete sets of something |
| con n. (1939) | a convention; an organized gathering of fans; cf. -con suffix |
| -con suffix (1939) | (used to form the names of conventions, with the first element indicating the location or (typically in informal designations) the main subject or focus of the event); cf. con n. |
| conapt n. (1964) | an apartment in a condominium |
| con crud n. (1990) | an illness (esp. a cold) suffered while or shortly after attending an SF convention |
| condom n. (1986) | the milieu of (usually science fiction) conventions |
| congoer n. (1954) | one who attends (usually science fiction) conventions |
| congoing n. (1959) | attendance at (usually science fiction) conventions |
| conlang n. (1991) | an artificially created language; esp. a language invented to represent the speech of an alien race |
| conreport n. (1953) | a report of the events of a convention |
| construct n. (1970) | an intelligent entity that is not biological, as a sentient hologram or a digital intelligence; an artificially created or hybridized being |
| continuum n. (1938) | a universe; dimension n. |
| contragravity n. (1929) | = antigravity n. |
| contraterrene adj. (1941) | made of, or making use of, antimatter; cf. seetee n., terrene adj. 2 |
| core n. (1964) | the center of a galaxy |
| coreward adj. (1979) | toward the center of a galaxy; cf. core n. |
| corpsicle n. (1966) | a cryogenically frozen person; someone in cold sleep n.; (also, occasionally) a frozen corpse |
| cosy catastrophe n. (No cites) | see catastrophe adj. |
| counterfactual n. (1991) | a work of alternate history n. |
| countergrav n. (1955) | = antigravity n. |
| countergravity n. (1937) | = antigravity n. |
| countergravity adj. (1940) | = antigravity adj. |
| credit n. (1934) | a unit of currency |
| croggle v. (1954) | to astonish, bewilder, baffle |
| croggled adj. (1962) | astonished, baffled, bewildered |
| crudzine n. (1947) | a zine regarded as low quality |
| cruiser n. (1900) | a spaceship, esp. a relatively large and powerful military spaceship |