tricorder n.

in the fictional universe of the Star Trek franchise: a medium-sized hand-held device used for data sensing, analysis, and recording

[< tri-function recorder]

1966 H. Ellison City on the Edge of Forever (teleplay, 3 June) in City on the Edge of Forever: Original Teleplay (1996) 157 Harlan Ellison bibliography
Kirk Where’s the tricorder?… He speaks into the machine.…Memory Banks. Voice of Tricorder (filter) Activated. Kirk Integrate all data on Old Earth, year 1930 old style. Compute for variables resulting in major alterations of historical flow.
1967 Writers/Directors’ Guide (rev. 3, 17 Apr.) in Star Trek: The Original Series 365 (2010) 26
Tricorder: A portable sensor-computer-recorder, about the size of a large rectangular handbag, carried by an over-the-shoulder strap. A remarkable miniaturized device, it can be used to analyze and keep records of almost any type of data on planet surfaces, plus sensing or identifying various objects. It can also give the age of an artifact, the composition of alien life, and so on.
1970 J. Blish Spock Must Die! x. 81 James Blish bibliography
My tricorder reports nothing at all in the way of electromagnetic activity.
1985 M. Larson Pawns & Symbols iv. 41 Majliss Larson bibliography
Sulu scooped up his tricorder and departed at a trot, checking his phaser as he went.
1997 W. Shatner Avenger v. 39 William Shatner bibliography
Dr. Andrea M’Benga stepped out, medical tricorder in hand.
2007 Wired June 76/3
We think we can produce the actual working version of Dr. McCoy’s medical tricorder from Star Trek…. Only for bees.

antedating 1966

Last modified 2021-01-26 23:29:53
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.