space colony n.

a group of beings living in a space station or on a world other than their motherworld; the structure or location of such a group

  • 1932 P. S. Miller Letter in Wonder Stories June 91/2 page image P. Schuyler Miller

    Obviously, no author can present vividly and realistically for the benefit of the latter, experienced readers certain problems of future life and relations, of life in space ships and space colonies, that everyone realizes will and must occur, when sixth-grade children are reading them. They would not understand what was really being presented, anymore [sic] than they would understand a bald, literal statement of the theories of Freud and his school.

  • 1940 J. H. Haggard Universe in Darkness in Future Fiction Nov. 19/2 page image J. Harvey Haggard bibliography

    The spacer had come to rest in a circular expanse of black lava-basalt, while in the distances he saw the red compo-roofs of the clustered space colony.

  • 1949 P. Anderson Time Heals in Astounding Science Fiction Oct. 72/1 Poul Anderson bibliography

    Well—dere are exceptions, ewen today. If dey cannot be adjusted, or will not be—since noting is legally compulsory—dey must eider be sent to space colonies or struggle trough an unhappy life on Eart, witout friends or marriage, witout ewen a group. But numbers deys gruw less all de time.

  • 1979 J. P. Hogan Two Faces of Tomorrow (1987) 76 James P. Hogan

    You don’t mean the two experimental space colonies they put up before they started building the big ones?

  • 1994 Science Fiction Age Sept. 38 page image

    I’m either getting more realistic, or more pessimistic, but I think we won’t have a space colony in 25 years. I'd love to be wrong. In 125 years I can’t believe we won’t.

  • 2008 A. M. Steele Galaxy Blues in Asimov’s Science Fiction 99 page image Allen Steele bibliography

    ‘It’s…very nice, thank you.’ Rain’s voice was low; I could tell she was still trying to wrap her head around finding a Victorian library in an alien space colony.


Research requirements

antedating 1932

Earliest cite

P. Schuyler Miller, letter

Research History
Fred Galvin submitted a 1949 cite from Poul Anderson's "Time Heals".

Previous earliest cite in the OED: 1974

Fred Galvin submitted a 1932 cite from a letter of P. Schuyler Miller in Wonder Stories.

Last modified 2021-01-11 23:00:01
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.