bionic adj.

of or pertaining to bionics; having or being an artificial, esp. electromechanical, device that replaces part of the body; having ordinary human capabilities increased (as if) by the aid of such devices

Science

  • 1941 β€˜E. Binder’ Vassals of the Master World in Planet Stories Fall 22/2 page image bibliography

    β€˜Operate? Plastic-surgery?’ The doctor looked puzzled. β€˜We use bionic methods.’

  • 1961 Science Digest Nov. 26/2

    The bionic machines and synthetically intelligent systems of tomorrow.

  • 1973 S. Dorman Bear Went Over the Mountain in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Aug. 143/1 page image Sonya Dorman bibliography

    His brain is now tremendously amplified by the link to the computer. So far, he’s the only human survivor of the applications of our research. We lost the other two to brain damage during the bionic installation phase.

  • 1988 N. Stephenson Zodiac i. 11 Neal Stephenson

    I threw myself on the mercy of Esmerelda, a black librarian of somewhere between ninety and a hundred who contained within her bionic hairdo all knowledge, or the ability to find it.

  • 1998 W. Shatner et al. Spectre Prologue 3 bibliography

    The fingertips of her natural right hand almost but not quite aligned with the crude bionic structure that served as her left hand.

Research requirements

antedating 1941
Earliest cite

"Eando Binder," in Planet Stories
Research History
Earliest quotation in OED2 was 1963; improved to 1961 in OED3.

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