Belter n.
a native or resident of an asteroid belt n.
The 1948 Theodore Sturgeon story There Is No Defense (Astounding Science Fiction, February) features a protagonist named Belter, but there is no clear connection between this character and an asteroid belt, and no other characters have names reflecting a geographic origin, so this would seem to be a coincidence.
Demonyms
-
1965
page image
Larry Niven
bibliography
They’ll be armed for us, and a weapon is a weapon…. Belters, they’re always waiting for the first ET. They’ll be armed for bear.
World of Ptavvs in Worlds of Tomorrow Mar. 56/1 -
1966
page image
Larry Niven
bibliography
You noticed a habit of mine once. I never make gestures. All Belters have that trait. It’s because on a small mining ship you could hit something waving your arms around.
Warriors in Worlds of If Science Fiction Feb. 152/2
-
1966
page image
Larry Niven
bibliography
When a Belter stops being neat it’s like suicide.
Bordered in Black in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Apr. 127/1 -
1966
Larry Niven
Those hotels, and the scattered hotels in the other bubbleworld, served every Belter’s occasional need for an Earthlike environment.
in Galaxy Magazine Dec. 100/1
-
1969
Leigh Richmond
Walt Richmond
bibliography
The Belt, he thought. I'm going to be a Belter now.
Phoenix Ship 34
-
1974
Jerry Pournelle
Belters are asteroid miners—they flit from asteroid to asteroid, slicing them up for the mineral wealth they presumably contain.
in Galaxy Science Fiction May 105/2
-
1974
Jerry Pournelle
One supposes there’s a local source of both energy and fuel in the Belt, of course, or there couldn’t be a Belter Civilization to begin with.
in Galaxy Science Fiction May 106/1
-
1979
page image
Gregory Benford
bibliography
Belters aren’t scientists. They’re gamblers, idealists, thieves, crazies, malcontents. Most of us are from the cylinder worlds orbiting Earth.
Dark Sanctuary in Omni May 105/2
-
1987
Robert Reed
bibliography
And there is the multitude of Belter worlds, each unique.
Hormone Jungle (1989) 7
-
1991
C. J. Cherryh
bibliography
Nervous man, Ben Pollard. Twenty-four and hungry, a Belter kid only two years out of ASTEX Institute.
Heavy Time 1
-
1993
Greg Bear
bibliography
Cameron gave me an eager, anxious look, backed away, spun around with the expert grace of a belter, and took a tunnel leading to the surface.
Moving Mars 386
-
2019
Daniel Abraham
Ty Franck
bibliography
The Belters were old-school OPA [sc. Outer Planets Alliance], grizzled veterans of the endless insurgent war with the inner planets before Laconia came and made that irrelevant.
Tiamat’s Wrath 75
Research requirements
antedating 1965
Earliest cite
Larry Niven, 'World of Ptavvs'
Research History
Larry Niven has indicated that he invented this term.
Mike Christie submitted a 1967 cite from Larry Niven's "Flatlander".
David Siegel submitted a 1969 cite from Walt & Leigh Richmond's "Phoenix Ship".
Mike Stone identified a cite in Larry Niven's "The Warriors", and Mike Christie located the cite in the 1966 first magazine appearance.
Winchell Chung Jr. submitted a 1974 cite from an article by Jerry Pournelle in Galaxy.
Edward Bornstein submitted a 1991 cite from C.J. Cherryh's "Heavy Time".
Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a 1989 reprint of Robert Reed's 1987 "The Hormone Jungle".
Enoch Forrester submitted a cite from a later edition Larry Niven's "World of Ptavvs"; Jesse Sheidlower verified it in the original appearance in Worlds of Tomorrow in 1965.
Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a 1996 reprint of Gregory Benford's 1979 "Dark Sanctuary"; Jesse Sheidlower verified it in the original appearance in the May 1979 Omni.
Bill Mullins submitted an April 1966 cite from Larry Niven's "Bordered in Black," in Fantasy and Science Fiction.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2019 cite from "James S. A. Corey", in the Expanse series.
Scott Drellishak submitted a 1965 cite from Larry Niven's World of Ptavvs.
Last modified 2023-01-04 19:34:07
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.