Vulcanite n.

a native or inhabitant of Vulcan (a hypothetical planet orbiting nearer to the sun than Mercury)

Rare. Obs.

The existence of Vulcan, which had been hypothesized since the early 19th century, was disproved in the early 20th century.

In quot. 1966: a native of Vulcan, a planet in the Star Trek universe; a Vulcan n.

Demonyms

  • 1932 ‘L. F. Stone’ Hell Planet in Wonder Stories June ii. 18/1 page image Leslie F. Stone bibliography

    What interested the Tellurians the most was the fact that the arrows and a few spears that appeared now and then were tipped with white metal cosmicite! The metal seemed in common use among the Vulcanites, yet at the same time was held in veneration.

  • 1940 C. Selwyn Exiles of Three Red Moons in Planet Stories Summer 61/1 page image Carl Selwyn bibliography

    [I]mmuned on a world that spun ceaselessly from hot to cold, his native Vulcan, nothing fazed the mighty Lothar. [...] Rusty wondered how they knew the right direction. Dizzy with the heat, he did not realize he had even asked the question. ‘Depend on Lothar,’ said Spike, wiping a streaming brow. ‘Vulcanites can find their way out of hell.’

  • 1941 Le Zombie (#43) Oct. 9 (advt.) page image

    [advertisement for the Michigan Get-Acquainted Conference] If you live in the Solar System (Vulcanites excluded) you are welcome! If you live within half a parsec of the State of Michigan, you will be expected!

  • 1945 ‘R. Rocklynne’ Bubble Dwellers in Planet Stories Fall 83/1 page image Ross Rocklynne bibliography

    I felt a voiceless compassion for the Vulcanites. They stood like beasts, with dull eyes and stupid faces, arms hanging like strings at their sides. Their loin cloths, the only clothing on their great bodies, flapped in the warm, fitful winds that blew on this Sunless side of Vulcan.

  • [1966 B. Justman Memo 6 May in S. E. Whitfield & G. Roddenberry Making of ‘Star Trek’ iii. i. 276 bibliography

    Any Vulcanite or science-fiction aficionado would know that the fifth name in column one (Spouk) is pronounced ‘Spook’. While the sixth name in column three (Spouk) is pronounced ‘Spowk’.]

Research requirements

any evidence 1932
Earliest cite

Leslie F. Stone, 'The Hell Planet'
Research History
Suggested, and most cites submitted, by Bee Ostrowsky.

Last modified 2024-01-11 19:49:30
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.