Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
Order by: alphabetical | chronological
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| cryogenics n. (1960) | = cryostasis n.; cryonics n. |
| cryonics n. (1966) | the practice or technique of deep-freezing the bodies of people who have died, usu. of an incurable disease, with the aim of reviving them once a cure has been found |
| cryosleep n. (1972) | = cold sleep n. |
| cryostasis n. (1975) | a frozen state of a person or body induced in order to preserve it for long periods; cryosuspension n. |
| cryosuspension n. (1983) | = cryostasis n. |
| Cthulhu mythos n. (1942) | the fictional universe used as the setting for a range of works by H.P. Lovecraft, later used as a shared world |
| Cyberman n. (1966) | in the British television series Doctor Who: one of a race of emotionless cybernetic humanoids |
| cybernetically adv. (1951) | by means of cybernetic technology |
| cyberpunk n. 1 (1984) | a subgenre of science fiction typified by a bleak, high-tech setting in which a lawless subculture exists within an oppressive society dominated by computer technology |
| cyberpunk n. 2 (1984) | an author of, or protagonist in, cyberpunk n. 1 |
| cyberpunkish adj. (1989) | resembling or reminiscent of cyberpunk n. 1 |
| cyberspace n. (1982) | the notional environment within which electronic communication occurs, esp. when represented as the inside of a computer system; space perceived as such by an observer but generated by a computer system and having no real existence; a virtual reality environment |
| cyborg n. (1960) | a living organism whose body has been modified to include both biological and mechanical components |
| cyborg v. (1976) | to make into a cyborg |
| cyborged adj. (1976) | (of a biological organism) made into a cyborg n. |
| cyborging n. (1989) | the process of converting a biological organism into a cyborg |
| cyborgization n. (1979) | the conversion of a biological organism into a cyborg n. |
| cyborgized adj. (1989) | = cyborged adj. |
| cycle n. (1918) | a (specific) interval of time |
| dalek n. (1963) | in the British television series Doctor Who: a member of a race of aggressive alien mutants in mobile armoured casings |
| dark fantasy n. (1941) | a subgenre of fantasy that features gloomy or frightening themes, incorporating elements of horror n. |
| darkside n. 1 (1939) | the side of an object in space (as a spaceship, or a moon or planet) that faces away from the closest star; cf. farside n., nightside n. |