ship n. 2

a romantic pairing of two characters who appear in a work of (serial) fiction, esp. one which is discussed, portrayed, or advocated by fans rather than depicted in the original work; (also) fans who support a particular pairing, considered collectively

Fancyclopedia


SF Fandom

  • 1996 Re: Idle Thoughts on Idle Afternoon in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet newsgroup) 5 Sept.

    If CC&Co suddenly changed their minds and wrote a ’ship into the show, I wouldn’t run to my room and pout.

  • 2002 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 5 May i. 23/2

    Hard core fans debate which characters will end up romantically linked. They call their rival camps ‘ships’, for relationships, and some partisan Web sites denounce or ban advocates of rival ‘ships’.

  • 2007 Sectus (Programme of Unofficial Harry Potter Conf., 19–22 July) 41

    Of all the ships in the Harry Potter fandom, Harry/Draco is probably one of the oldest and largest.

  • 2014 Wire (Nexis) 3 Feb.

    While the rest of the Harry Potter fandom argue over Harry X Hermione or Ron X Hermione ships, I sit here with my [one true pairing] Dramione and not giving a damn.

Research requirements

antedating 1996
Earliest cite

from Usenet

Last modified 2020-12-16 04:08:47
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.