space-born adj. 1

(of a person) born in space, rather than on a planet

  • 1940 H. Kuttner Million Years to Conquer in Startling Stories Nov. 19/1 Henry Kuttner bibliography

    You are space-born, Ardath. You cannot quite realize that only on a planet can a man find a home.

  • 1952 M. Wolf Empty Bottle in Worlds of If Sept. 43/2 page image Mari Wolf bibliography

    It was the space-born ones who were doing most of the talking. The children, the young people, the people no longer young but still born since the voyage started, still looking upon Earth more as a wonderful legend than as their own place of origin.

  • 1958 D. Knight Enemy in Venture Science Fiction Jan. 114/2 page image Damon Knight bibliography

    It was the only sky she knew; like her mother’s mother before her, she was space-born. Centuries ago, driven out of the fat green worlds, her people had grown austere, like the arid fields of stars they roamed along.

  • 1969 A. Norton Uncharted Stars 47 page image Andre Norton bibliography

    His age was noted as problematical, since he had been space-born.

  • 1971 L. Harding Fallen Spaceman in Worlds of If June 170/1 page image Lee Harding bibliography

    He was space-born and had never known the feel of a planet underneath his feet or the burden of an unvarying gravity.

  • 1992 Tomorrow’s Books in Amazing Stories Sept. 71/1 page image

    Melpomene Murray and her space-born classmates have been trained from birth to lead mankind into the future, but Melpomene has plans of her own.

  • 2012 O. S. Card & A. Johnston Earth Unaware 239 page image Orson Scott Card Aaron Johnston bibliography

    You’re a free miner. You’re space born. That’s two strikes against you on Luna. Don’t give up.

Research requirements

antedating 1940
Earliest cite

Henry Kuttner, "A Million Years to Conquer", in Startling Stories
Research History
Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a 1952 reprint of Henry Kuttner's 1940 "A Million Years to Conquer"; Mike Christie verified it in the original publication.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1951 cite from James H. Schmitz's "Space Fear".
(We are aware of E.C. Tubb's 1956 novel "The Space Born", but we don't have enough other evidence for the noun to include it.)

Last modified 2022-06-13 15:25:09
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.