gravitic adj.
of, caused by, or powered by gravity
-
1935
page image
John W. Campbell, Jr.
bibliography
To the great weapons…he added…ball magnetic and ball gravitic bombs.
Mightiest Machine in Astounding Stories Mar. 112/1 -
1939
page image
Malcolm Jameson
bibliography
It is described as an elongated ellipsoid of about five million miles along major axis and the gravitic equivalent at center is estimated to be of the order of several thousand megabars. Correspondingly strong ‘highs’ have been detected both above and below it as well as in front of and behind it, so that extraecliptic travel lanes are as impassable as the usual ones. Gravitic gradients throughout Mars-Jupiter sector at new record and zeta emanation abundant.
Question of Salvage in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 72/2
-
1939
page image
Malcolm Jameson
bibliography
Some structural damage was suffered by the vessel owing to pounding by gravitic waves, but she returned to base without assistance.
Question of Salvage in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 72/2
-
1941
page image
Robert A. Heinlein
bibliography
You see, there are three types of energy fields known to exist in space; electric, magnetic, and gravitic or gravitational.
Sixth Column in Astounding Science-Fiction Jan. 15/2
-
1944
page image
George O. Smith
bibliography
Gravitic phenomena propagates at the speed of light raised to the power of 2.71828—That’s our limiting velocity.
Latent Image in Astounding Science Fiction May 25/1
-
1951
Isaac Asimov
The elevator was of the new sort that ran by gravitic repulsion.
Foundation 19
-
1982
Vonda N. McIntyre
The message was only intermittantly comprehensible. ‘… gravitic mine, lost all power.’
Wrath of Khan Prologue 9
-
1982
Isaac Asimov
Now it’s a colossal mausoleum, but is there a force-field ramp in the place? A slideway? A gravitic lift?—No, just these steps.
Foundation's Edge 3
-
1986
William Gibson
I grinned, thinking about that, and suddenly it hit me that it really was over, that I was done with Lise, and that now she'd be sucked off to Hollywood as inexorably as if she'd poked her toe into a black hole, drawn down by the unthinkable gravitic tug of Big Money.
in Interzone Spring 10/1,
-
1990
Lois McMaster Bujold
The up-and-coming weapon for ship-to-ship fighting in the last couple of years seemed to be the gravitic imploder lance, a modification of tractor-beam technology; variously-designed artificial-gravity shields were still lagging behind in protection from it.
Vor Game (1993) 268
-
1998
David Brin
But right now they are using a supplementary gravitic engine to hasten progress, fleeing unexpected chaos in this stellar system.
Heaven's Reach 72
-
2020
N. K. Jemisin
bibliography
That’s what’s causing the gravitic shifts, he suspects; too much mass and breadth in one place at the same time. Perhaps because of this inherent contradiction with the laws of Normal New York physics, however, that vision never lasts.
City We Became v. 129
Research requirements
antedating 1935
Earliest cite
John W. Campbell, Jr., "The Mightiest Machine"
Research History
Mike Christie submitted a 1941 cite from Robert Heinlein's "Sixth Column".Enoch Forrester submitted a 1939 cite from Malcolm Jameson's "A Question of Salvage".
Enoch Forrester submitted a 1944 cite from George O. Smith's "Latent Image".
Enoch Forrester submitted a cite from a 1991 reprint of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation"; Mike Christie confirmed the cite in the 1951 first edition.
Michael Dolbear submitted a cite from a 1993 reprint of Lois McMaster Bujold's "The Vor Game".
Mike Christie submitted a 1986 cite from William Gibson's "The Winter Market".
Enoch Forrester submitted a cite from a reprint of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation's Edge"; Mike Christie verified the cite in the 1982 first edition.
Katrina Campbell submitted a cite from a 1985 reprint of Edmond Hamilton's 1968 "The World of the Starwolves".
Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a 1976 reprint of "Rebellion" by John W. Campbell writing as "Don A. Stuart": Mike Christie verified this in its first publication in Astounding Science Fiction, August 1935
Jesse Sheidlower submitted a cite from John W. Campbell writing as himself, in Astounding, March 1935.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2020 cite from N.K. Jemisin.
Last modified 2021-03-18 19:04:23
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.