carbonite n.

a carbon-based material in which a person can be cryogenically preserved

Introduced in the Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

Star Wars

  • 1980 D. Attias & L. Smith Empire Strikes Back Notebook 107

    Threepio: They've encased him in carbonite. He should be quite well-protected—if he survives the freezing process, that is.

  • 1983 Washington Post 22 May G1

    Their mission…is to rescue Han Solo, decorating a wall of Jabba’s rec room while still suspended in the ‘carbonite’ hibernation where ‘Empire’ left him.

  • 2002 Michigan Law Review 100 1742

    Unless you've been frozen in carbonite or are hopelessly gullible, it must have occurred to you…that environmental activists are exaggerating just a bit.

Research requirements

antedating 1980

Last modified 2020-12-16 05:44:13
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.