poder

Meu poder favorito é o teletransporte.

(science fiction) power; superpower (supernatural ability)


sentient

en-adj

sentient (comparative more sentient, superlative most sentient)

more sentient (comparative)
most sentient (superlative)

From Latin sentiēns (“feeling, perceiving”), present active participle of sentiō.

Not even a microbe? I don't want to blow up something that could evolve into a sentient species in a couple of billion years.

2002, André Bormanis, “Silent Enemy”, in Star Trek: Enterprise, season 1, episode 12, spoken by Jonathan Archer:

Lemoine has been placed on “paid administrative leave” after publishing a transcript of conversations with LaMDA which he claims support his belief that the chatbot is sentient and comparable to a seven- or eight-year-old child. […] While Lemoine no doubt genuinely believes his claims, LaMDA is likely to be as sentient as a traffic light.

2022 June 14, Toby Walsh, “Labelling Google’s LaMDA chatbot as sentient is fanciful. But it’s very human to be taken in by machines”, in The Guardian:

After more than 25 years as an artificial intelligence researcher[…]Dr. Goertzel knew he had finally reached the end goal: Desdemona, a machine he had built, was sentient. But a few minutes later, he realized this was nonsense.

2022 August 5, Cade Metz, “A.I. Is Not Sentient. Why Do People Say It Is?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(loosely, chiefly science fiction) Possessing human-like awareness and intelligence.

բանական

science fiction: possessing human-like awareness, knowledge and intelligence


sentient

The merpeople and the sentients who lived on the beach often hitched rides on these creatures, steering them by pressure on exposed nerve centers.

1965, Philip José Farmer, The Maker of Universes:

(loosely, chiefly science fiction) An intelligent, self-aware being.


destroyer

/dəˈstɹɔɪ.ɚ/

From destroy + -er. Designating a warship, it is ellipsis of torpedo-boat destroyer, the longer term appearing at the end of the 19th century and the shorter form early in the 20th.

(military) A larger warship with guided missile armament, usually intended for air defence or anti-ship roles. Often, but not always, larger than a frigate and smaller than a cruiser.

(science fiction, by extension) A starship of comparable role.


Uranian

Aphrodite Pandemos
Aphrodite Urania
Louvre
Voyager 2

/jʊˈɹeɪnɪən/

[T]he fury of a fiery hot-brained Marsian, may kindle immediate and incessant wrangling and feuds; whilst a quiet placid Uranian, in his turn, may yet at times be excessively annoyed, ay, worried and tormented, by the tardiness, listlessness and inactivity of his dronish companion.

1839, A Fantastical Excursion into the Planets, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, page 172:

And obviously, since the year of the Uranians lasts 84 of our years, the continuance of the sun above the horizon would last for many years. [...] And as with the summer day, so with the winter night, years elapse before either comes to an end. For upwards of 20 years, in a latitude corresponding to that of London, the Uranians—if there are any—never see the small Uranian sun.

1872, Richard A[nthony] Proctor, “Uranus and Neptune, the Arctic Planets”, in Other Worlds than Ours: The Plurality of Worlds Studied under the Light of Recent Scientific Researches, 3rd edition, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 171–172:

(chiefly science fiction) An inhabitant of the planet Uranus.


sector

Sector (Star Trek)
Sector (instrument)
sector

(science fiction) a fictional region of space designated for navigational or governance purposes.


sleeper

(science fiction) A pod or similar device containing a person in cryosleep.


tarnen

de-verb

tarnen (weak, third-person singular present tarnt, past tense tarnte, past participle getarnt, auxiliary haben)

tarnt (present singular third-person)
tarnte (past)
getarnt (participle past)
haben (auxiliary)
haben (auxiliary)
tarnen (infinitive)
tarnend (participle present)
getarnt (participle past)
tarne (first-person indicative present singular)
tarnen (first-person indicative plural present)
tarne (first-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
tarnen (first-person plural subjunctive subjunctive-i)
tarnst (indicative present second-person singular)
tarnt (indicative plural present second-person)
tarnest (second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
tarnet (plural second-person subjunctive subjunctive-i)
tarnt (indicative present singular third-person)
tarnen (indicative plural present third-person)
tarne (singular subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
tarnen (plural subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
tarnte (first-person indicative preterite singular)
tarnten (first-person indicative plural preterite)
tarnte (first-person formal rare singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
tarnten (first-person formal plural rare subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
tarntest (indicative preterite second-person singular)
tarntet (indicative plural preterite second-person)
tarntest (formal rare second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
tarntet (formal plural rare second-person subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
tarnte (indicative preterite singular third-person)
tarnten (indicative plural preterite third-person)
tarnte (formal rare singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)
tarnten (formal plural rare subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)
tarn (imperative second-person singular)
tarne (imperative second-person singular)
tarnt (imperative plural second-person)
haben (auxiliary)
habe getarnt (first-person indicative multiword-construction perfect singular)
haben getarnt (first-person indicative multiword-construction perfect plural)
habe getarnt (first-person multiword-construction perfect singular subjunctive)
haben getarnt (first-person multiword-construction perfect plural subjunctive)
hast getarnt (indicative multiword-construction perfect second-person singular)
habt getarnt (indicative multiword-construction perfect plural second-person)
habest getarnt (multiword-construction perfect second-person singular subjunctive)
habet getarnt (multiword-construction perfect plural second-person subjunctive)
hat getarnt (indicative multiword-construction perfect singular third-person)
haben getarnt (indicative multiword-construction perfect plural third-person)
habe getarnt (multiword-construction perfect singular subjunctive third-person)
haben getarnt (multiword-construction perfect plural subjunctive third-person)
hatte getarnt (first-person indicative multiword-construction pluperfect singular)
hatten getarnt (first-person indicative multiword-construction pluperfect plural)
hätte getarnt (first-person multiword-construction pluperfect singular subjunctive)
hätten getarnt (first-person multiword-construction pluperfect plural subjunctive)
hattest getarnt (indicative multiword-construction pluperfect second-person singular)
hattet getarnt (indicative multiword-construction pluperfect plural second-person)
hättest getarnt (multiword-construction pluperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
hättet getarnt (multiword-construction pluperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
hatte getarnt (indicative multiword-construction pluperfect singular third-person)
hatten getarnt (indicative multiword-construction pluperfect plural third-person)
hätte getarnt (multiword-construction pluperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
hätten getarnt (multiword-construction pluperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
tarnen werden (future future-i infinitive multiword-construction)
werde tarnen (first-person future future-i multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werden tarnen (first-person future future-i multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werdest tarnen (future future-i multiword-construction second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werdet tarnen (future future-i multiword-construction plural second-person subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werde tarnen (future future-i multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
werden tarnen (future future-i multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
werde tarnen (first-person future future-i indicative multiword-construction singular)
werden tarnen (first-person future future-i indicative multiword-construction plural)
würde tarnen (first-person future future-i multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
würden tarnen (first-person future future-i multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
wirst tarnen (future future-i indicative multiword-construction second-person singular)
werdet tarnen (future future-i indicative multiword-construction plural second-person)
würdest tarnen (future future-i multiword-construction second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
würdet tarnen (future future-i multiword-construction plural second-person subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
wird tarnen (future future-i indicative multiword-construction singular third-person)
werden tarnen (future future-i indicative multiword-construction plural third-person)
würde tarnen (future future-i multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)
würden tarnen (future future-i multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)
getarnt haben werden (future future-ii infinitive multiword-construction)
werde getarnt haben (first-person future future-ii multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werden getarnt haben (first-person future future-ii multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werdest getarnt haben (future future-ii multiword-construction second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werdet getarnt haben (future future-ii multiword-construction plural second-person subjunctive subjunctive-i)
werde getarnt haben (future future-ii multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
werden getarnt haben (future future-ii multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-i third-person)
werde getarnt haben (first-person future future-ii indicative multiword-construction singular)
werden getarnt haben (first-person future future-ii indicative multiword-construction plural)
würde getarnt haben (first-person future future-ii multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
würden getarnt haben (first-person future future-ii multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
wirst getarnt haben (future future-ii indicative multiword-construction second-person singular)
werdet getarnt haben (future future-ii indicative multiword-construction plural second-person)
würdest getarnt haben (future future-ii multiword-construction second-person singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
würdet getarnt haben (future future-ii multiword-construction plural second-person subjunctive subjunctive-ii)
wird getarnt haben (future future-ii indicative multiword-construction singular third-person)
werden getarnt haben (future future-ii indicative multiword-construction plural third-person)
würde getarnt haben (future future-ii multiword-construction singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)
würden getarnt haben (future future-ii multiword-construction plural subjunctive subjunctive-ii third-person)

Early 20th century, a borrowing (inspired by older Tarnkappe) from Middle High German tarnen, from Old High German *tarnōn, from Proto-West Germanic *darnōn.


steampunk

steampunk (nominative singular)
steampunku (genitive singular)
steampunkowi (dative singular)
steampunk (accusative singular)
steampunkiem (instrumental singular)
steampunku (locative singular)
steampunku (singular vocative)

Unadapted borrowing from English steampunk.

ubor

(film, science fiction) steampunk (sci-fi subgenre)


shape-shifter

(fantasy, mythology, science fiction) Alternative form of shapeshifter


changeling

/ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒlɪŋ/

The noun is derived from change + -ling (suffix with the sense ‘immature; small’). Sense 6 (“idiot, simpleton”) is from the idea that foolish children had been left by magical creatures (sense 1).
The adjective is derived from the noun.

suffix

(fantasy, science fiction) An organism which can change shape to mimic others; a shape-shifter.


comm

My comm was set on silent mode—nothing in or out except emergency transmissions.

2018, Joseph Kainz, Sector 12 and the Art of Burning, page ix:


gen

en-verb

gen (third-person singular simple present gens, present participle genning, simple past and past participle genned)

gens (present singular third-person)
genning (participle present)
genned (participle past)
genned (past)

Samples could be taken from the original, and plans could be made, but genning could not be initiated until death had occurred.

2008, Bart Dahmer, Primal Screams, →ISBN, page 36:

Her nurturer ears, genned to be hyper-sensitive, had to be hurting from the noise.

2011, Karen Sandler, Tankborn, →ISBN, page 28:

(science fiction) To genetically engineer.


chronoscope

/ˈkɹɒnəˌskəʊp/

(science fiction) A device able to directly view other times, past or future.


tin can

For here am I sitting in a tin can / Far above the world / Planet Earth is blue / And there's nothing I can do

1969, David Bowie (lyrics and music), “Space Oddity”:

(science fiction, slang) A metal spaceship or space station.


phaser

* (science fiction): For the fictional weapon coined for Star Trek: originally a "ph(oton ma)ser," later changed canonically to a "phas(ed)-e(nergy) r(ectifier)" (of "nadions", not photons).
* (phase modulation): phase + -er

Captain James Kirk: "Set your phaser on one quarter. I'll leave mine on stun."

1966 September 8, George Clayton Johnson, The Man Trap (Star Trek), season 1, episode 1:

His oddly reserved nature stands out [...]. Whyte sets his phaser on stun, not kill.

A Bajoran rushed past with an armful of phaser rifles, another with a box of hand phasers.

1999, Dafydd ab Hugh, chapter 3, in Fallen Heroes [Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; 5], New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books:

Giolitti's Gold Key art is widely admired, [...] and this is a terrific opportunity to pick up a page—set your phasers on bid.

2004, Hertiage Signature Auction #811, page 185:

I said, "Set phasers on be-a-bastard."

Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(science fiction) Fictional energy weapon, with multiple settings for degree of intensity, from the television series Star Trek (1966–69).


phaser

phaser (third-person singular simple present phasers, present participle phasering, simple past and past participle phasered)

phasers (present singular third-person)
phasering (participle present)
phasered (participle past)
phasered (past)

(science fiction, transitive) To shoot with a phaser weapon.


Nordic

From French nordique, from nord (“north”).

Called “Nordics,” the aliens are human-like in appearance, of average height, and often have long, flowing hair. Contactees are typically struck by the beauty of the Nordics, as was Howard Menger (1959): “She seemed to radiate and glow,” Menger explains,

2007, Erich Goode, D. Angus Vail, Extreme Deviance, Pine Forge Press, page 41:

But the third most common alien is called a Nordic, or humanoid.

2012, Kelly Milner Halls, Alien Investigation: Searching for the Truth about UFOs and Aliens, Millbrook Press, page 45:

Known as Nordics, these extraterrestrials are said to have blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin and are anywhere from 6 to 8 feet (183cm to 244cm) tall.

2012, Patricia D. Netzley, Extraterrestrial Life: Alien Encounters, Reference Point Press, page 33

(ufology, science fiction) A race of extraterrestrials similar in appearance to Nordic humans.


Dalek

Dalek
Doctor Who
Genesis of the Daleks
I, Davros
Terry Nation
The Daleks

Coined by Terry Nation in 1963 for his script of The Mutants (later retitled "The Daleks"), the second serial of the first season of Doctor Who. Accounts of how he devised the word vary. Within the Doctor Who universe, the word is supposed to be related to the name of the people from whom the Daleks evolved, either the Kaleds (as according to later serial Genesis of the Daleks) or the Dals (as in The Daleks), or to derive from a word meaning "gods" in their (fictional) language, in which the sacred "Book of Predictions" is written. According to the I, Davros audio fiction the book reads "...and on that day, men will become as gods", with the last word pronounced "Dal-eks".

'But Alydon,' I persisted, 'the Daleks aren't human beings. They're just evil, half creatures, half machines, determined to destroy you.'

1964, David Whitaker, Dr. Who and the Daleks, chapter 6 (based on the film script Dr. Who and the Daleks by Milton Subotsky, based itself on the tele-script The Mutants/The Daleks by Terry Nation)

[…] what kind of courage it must have taken for Hawkins, an actor renowned for the quality of his voice, to go back onto the set to deliver lines in that oesophageal monotone, what he called his "Dalek voice".

1987, Barry Norman, The Movie Greats, page 144:

This synthesizer is by far the best I have heard, because it varies the intonation, and does not speak like a Dalek.

p. 1996, Together with English Core, fourteenth edition (Rachna Sagar Pvt. Ltd., page 234

My voice still insisted on disappearing into my shoes every time it happened so that I sounded like a Dalek, but with a bit of experience behind me I felt marginally more confident.

2000, Rosie Parnell (Rosie White), The Crit: An Architecture Student's Handbook (co-written with Charles Doidge, Rachel Sara), page xii

One man was skiting around on a big, wheeled camera like a Dalek, dodging the scurrying assistants and clipboard-wielders, […]

2003, Siân Preece, “Country Cooking Countdown”, in Scottish Girls About Town, published 2004, page 19:

Then the Dalek turned and picked off the other passengers one by one. It screamed... 'Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!'

2006, Gareth Roberts, chapter 9, in I Am a Dalek:

Gordon Brown sounds like a Dalek with about three stock phrases... Remember, Daleks always want world domination but they always lose.

a. 2010, Peter Bazalgette, quoted in the Funniest Thing You Never Said: 2, page 333

And Peter was so focused too: like a Dalek in a track suit.

2011, Colin Neill, Turas: A Story of Strangers in a Strange Land, page 166:

(science fiction) A member of a species of extraterrestrial cyborg mutants who appear in the television programme Doctor Who and are known for travelling in metallic shells, having monotone, mechanically distorted voices, repeating a limited number of phrases, and their fanatical obsession with exterminating other, non-Dalek beings.


bioroid

(science fiction) A cybernetic or fully biological organism created by artificial means.

genetically engineered
genetic engineering

(science fiction) A genetically engineered humanoid-like organism created for the purpose of enslavement.


Ionian

* (Hellenic, Ionia, architecture): Ionia + -n
* (moon of Jupiter): Io + -n- + -ian

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Io, a moon of Jupiter


dilithium

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-dilithium.wav

Fifty years later and it seems like we should—I don’t know if dilithium crystals are out there—but, you know, we should be getting some breakthroughs.

2016 October, Scott Dadich, quoting Barack Obama, “Barack Obama Talks AI, Robo Cars, and the Future of the World”, in Wired, →ISSN:

(science fiction) A fictional crystalline mineral in the Star Trek franchise, described as an essential component of anti-matter energy generation systems.


suspended animation

(science fiction) The deliberate slowing of the body's functions, sometimes by the use of cryonics, on long interstellar journeys.


time warp

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-time warp.wav

But as the reports on the Bild investigation suggest, the company’s workplace culture may be stuck in a time warp.

2021 October 17, Ben Smith, “At Axel Springer, Politico’s New Owner, Allegations of Sex, Lies and a Secret Payment”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(science fiction) A hypothetical discontinuity in the flow of time that would uncausally move events from one time period to another.


time warp

time warp (third-person singular simple present time warps, present participle time warping, simple past and past participle time warped)

time warps (present singular third-person)
time warping (participle present)
time warped (participle past)
time warped (past)

(science fiction, transitive, intransitive) To travel through time in such a manner.


pyrokinesis

(parapsychology, fantasy, science fiction) The ability to set objects or people on fire or to supernaturally project fire from one's own being through the concentration of psychic power.

控火

the ability to set objects or people on fire


wirehead

(science fiction) A person who has an electronic brain implant.


neo

Ken Bulmer pointed out that the attitude of a fan who had read much sf is different from that of a neo who is reading sf for the first time.

1964 April 2, Bennett Ron, Skyrack, number 65:

This fabulous fannish cover illustrated the three stages of fandom: the neo, the trufan, and the BNF.

1976 August 25, Ian Maule, Checkpoint, number 72:

Edwina, and neofen of her generation (this is not a criticism - everyone starts out as a neo), being new to sffandom, and not a member of faandom, would not have noticed this.

1996 November 3, Richard J. Faulder, Gegenschein, number 80:

(dated, fandom slang, science fiction) Clipping of neofan.


empathic

en-adj

empathic (comparative more empathic, superlative most empathic)

more empathic (comparative)
most empathic (superlative)

(science fiction) Of, pertaining to, or being an empath: of or having the capability of sensing the emotions of others.


Apollonian

/æpəˈləʊnɪ.ən/

From Latin Apollō (Apollōn-) + -ian and Apollonius/Apollonia + -an.

2008, C. G. Stevenson, The Apollonian Appearance: The Being from the Planet Apollo, →ISBN:

At first, when the Apollonians converged on her, Mary Theresa thought she had made a major mistake by going to the battle.

2013, Jim Henry, Universal Life Force Series Featuring Antiquity Calais Vol. 1-3, →ISBN:

The last person who tried this kind of appeal was actually the new vessel -- an Apollonian, one I knew briefly.

2013, James Bartholomeusz, The Grey Star, →ISBN, page 17:

(science fiction) A native of the planet Apollo.


Mercurian

(science fiction) An inhabitant of the planet Mercury.


Lunarian

From the stem of Latin lunaris (“of the moon, lunar”) + -ian.

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Earth's Moon (Luna): either an indigenous one or a human one.


Lunarian

(science fiction) Pertaining to the inhabitants of Luna (Lunarians).


Solarian

Solarian (comparative more Solarian, superlative most Solarian)

more Solarian (comparative)
most Solarian (superlative)

(chiefly science fiction) Of or relating to the Sun.

He grinned at the profanity that came out of the communicator-speaker. Then—back at the irreverently nicknamed Galloping Cow which was the base ship of the Extra-Solarian Research Institute expedition to this star-cluster—McRae cut off.

1947 April, Murray Leinster, “Skit-Tree Planet”, in Thrilling Wonder Stories, volume 30, number 1, page 42:

(chiefly science fiction) Of or relating to the Solar System.

The Solarian one-man ships were even smaller than the Nigrian one-man ships, and some of these did a tremendous amount of damage.

1930 Fall, John Wood Campbell, “The Black Star Passes”, in Amazing Stories Quarterly, volume 3, number 4, page 521:

(chiefly science fiction) Of or relating to the inhabitants of the Solar system.


Solarian

It will be proved that a Solarian, supposing him to have a stature equal to our own, would do as much work as seven of our cultivators; and yet the Solarians are the happiest of beings; their lot is the highest degree of happiness to which we can aspire until the epoch when there shall exist stars of a more exalted rank, that are not yet to be found in our young universe.

1851, Charles Fourier, The Passions of the Human Soul, page 225:

"There has been another dive since our meeting, Jacob, and on that dive, we are told, only the first and more prosaic species of Solarian was observed. Not the second variety which has caused Dr. Kepler so much concern." Jacob was still confused by the hurried explanations Kepler had given of the two types of Sun-creatures so far observed.

(science fiction) An inhabitant of the Sun.

The small ships of the Nigrians were beginning to take a terrific toll in the thin ranks of the Solarians. The coming of the Rocket Squad had been welcomed indeed!

Is it true that all Terrans, and other Solarians are frightfully rich, and go simply everywhere, and do as they please, and that almost nobody works?

1956 August, Charles Stearns, “The Golden Ones”, in Science Fiction Quarterly, volume 4, number 4, page 30:

(chiefly science fiction) An inhabitant of any part of the solar system of the Sun.


cryokinesis

(fantasy, science fiction) The psychic ability to control and create ice and cold temperatures.


robots

robots (nominative singular)
roboti (nominative plural)
robotu (accusative singular)
robotus (accusative plural)
robota (genitive singular)
robotu (genitive plural)
robotam (dative singular)
robotiem (dative plural)
robotu (instrumental singular)
robotiem (instrumental plural)
robotā (locative singular)
robotos (locative plural)
robot (singular vocative)
roboti (plural vocative)

From Czech robot, from robota (“drudgery, servitude”). Coined in the 1921 science-fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek after having been suggested to him by his brother Josef http://ui.fpf.slu.cz/persons/Kelemen/articles/HorKelALIFEIXDef.pdf, and taken into other languages without change.

(science fiction) robot (intelligent machine designed to look like a human being)


aerokinesis

(fantasy, science fiction) A telekinetic ability to control the movement of air.


Plutonian

From Pluto (“dwarf planet in the Solar System”) + -n- + -ian (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘from, related to, or like’, or nouns meaning ‘one belonging to, relating to, or like’), probably influenced by Plutonian (“of or relating to Pluto, Greek and Roman god of the underworld”) (see etymology 1).

affix

The Plutonians, who are almost extinct, once held a superscience that they have largely lost. Early Plutonian visits to Earth survived in folk memory as the devil, since Plutonians are gigantic, with horns, hooves, and tail.

1998, Everett F[ranklin] Bleiler, Richard Bleiler, “[Story Descriptions.] 1423. THE EARTHMAN’S BURDEN. Astounding Stories, June 1931, Ill. Paul.”, in Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years: A Complete Coverage of the Genre Magazines Amazing, Astounding, Wonder, and Others from 1926 through 1936, Kent, Oh., London: Kent State University Press, →ISBN, page 409, column 1:

(chiefly science fiction) An inhabitant of the dwarf planet Pluto.


timestream

By killing his great-grandfather, the time traveller disrupted the timestream.

The slightest excess of effort might upset the balance at any point of the time stream, sending them backward into the past or forward into the future independently of my will.

[1931 December, Eric Temple Bell, “The Time Stream”, in Wonder Stories:

The timestream is littered with these blank areas.

Two different timestreams running parallel but at different speeds. Amy, you're in a faster timestream.

2011, Tom MacRae, “The Girl Who Waited”, in Nick Hurran, director, Doctor Who, season 6, episode 10, spoken by The Doctor (Matt Smith):

(science fiction, mythology) A metaphorical conception of time as a stream, or flowing body of water.


terrene

en-adj

terrene (comparative more terrene, superlative most terrene)

more terrene (comparative)
most terrene (superlative)

From Middle English terrene, from Anglo-Norman terriene, feminine of terrien, from Latin terrēnus, from terra (“earth”).

(science fiction) Made of matter (as opposed to antimatter).


mech

en-noun

mech (countable and uncountable, plural mechs)

(science fiction) A large piloted combat robot.

But I reprogrammed the recognition codes, and they won't treat him as Roubor Transic, nor will they obey any order he gives them. He's Mr. X to the mechs, a casual human to be taken care of just as well as possible, but never, never released.

1999, Analog Science Fiction & Fact - Volume 119, page 55:

He particularly liked the box full of "companions," small, hand-held mechs with advanced AI functions, programmed as individual advice and information systems.

2001, Robert I. Katz, Edward Maret: A Novel of the Future, page 100:

She grew up in Lower Manhattan, suffering the impeccably programmed attentions of the nanny mechs that did the work her mother and father couldn't be bothered with.

2006, Lou Anders, Futureshocks, page 75:

After a round of hugs and kisses, they headed to the lounge where Genie met them at the door and escorted them to the new VIP section followed by a mech that took their drink orders.

2019, Ron S. Nolan, Met Chron New-Humans:


centauroid

(fantasy, science fiction) A creature resembling a centaur.


cloaking device

cloaking device (plural cloaking devices)

1968. Coined by D. C. Fontana in the script for the Star Trek episode The Enterprise Incident.

Spock: "I believe the Romulans have developed a cloaking device which renders our tracking sensors useless."

1968, The Enterprise Incident (Star Trek), season 3, episode 2, Dorothy Catherine Fontana (actor):

Captain Needa: "They can't have disappeared. No ship that small has a cloaking device."

1980, The Empire Strikes Back, Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, and George Lucas (actors):

I put out my hand and touched the warm surface of the camouflaged Rolls-Royce. I was going to ask Mycroft if I could have the cloaking device fitted to my Speedster but I was too late; enthused by my interest he had trotted off to a large roll-top bureau and was beckoning me over excitedly.

(science fiction) A device which renders a person or thing invisible.


saurian

From Sauria (suborder of lizards) + -an (suffix forming adjectives), under influence from earlier French saurien.

compound

After dinner we all went on deck and watched the unfamiliar scenes of a Capronian night--that is, all but von Schoenvorts. There was less to see than to hear. From the great inland lake behind us came the hissing and the screaming of countless saurians. Above us we heard the flap of giant wings, while from the shore rose the multitudinous voices of a tropical jungle--of a warm, damp atmosphere such as must have enveloped the entire earth during the Palezoic and Mesozoic eras.

1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter VI, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:

Good evening, fellow saurians, and welcome once again to the Tri-Sports Arena! I'm your host, Raz Charkov...

1986, Kevin Eastman & al., Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol. I, No. 6, page 15

(popularly, especially science fiction) Any large reptilian animal, including crocodiles and reptilian aliens.


FTL

en-noun

FTL (countable and uncountable, plural FTLs)

They had been slowly trailing the freighter for over a week, waiting for the ship to drop out of FTL.

2016, A.K. Brown, Jumpstart (Champagne Universe Series: Book 1), page 19:

(science fiction) Initialism of faster-than-light.


反重力

反重力 (canonical)
hanjūryoku (romanization)

From 反(はん, han) (anti-) + 重力 (じゅうりょく, jūryoku) (gravity)


redshirt

/ˈɹɛd.ʃəː(ɹ)t/

Redshirt (college sports)
Star Trek: The Original Series
Starfleet
redshirt (stock character)

Calque of Italian camicia rossa, equivalent to red + shirt. In later senses with reference to the uniforms or outfits worn by such people. The fandom slang sense emerged from the tendency of red-uninformed Starfleet officers to die in episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Sensing danger, Captain Kirk decided to beam down to the surface with Spock, McCoy, and a couple of redshirts.

I am not a goddamn redshirt! I have a purpose!

2017, 42m, in 12 Monkeys, season 3, episode 6:

(fiction, science fiction, fandom slang) An unimportant character introduced only to be killed in order to underscore the peril to the important characters; an expendable character.


biokinesis

(parapsychology, science fiction) The ability, through the use of psychic power, to affect organic matter on a microscopic level, to manipulate the physiology (e.g. heart rate, breathing, nervous system or brainwaves) and voluntary motor functions of other people or living organisms, inducing processes such as accelerated healing, etc.


transdimensional

en-adj

transdimensional (comparative more transdimensional, superlative most transdimensional)

more transdimensional (comparative)
most transdimensional (superlative)

(science fiction) Relating to a dimension other than those of the normal three-dimensional world


ecumenopolis

en-noun

ecumenopolis (plural ecumenopolises or ecumenopoleis or ecumenopoli)

ecumenopolises (plural)
ecumenopoleis (plural)
ecumenopoli (plural)

From ecumene (“inhabited world”) + -polis (“city”).
From use as a common noun of Ecumenopolis, applying the concept to diverse scenarios.

suffix

(chiefly science fiction) A city spanning an entire planet or large moon.


multidimensional

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(science fiction, New Age religion) a being that exists in more than one dimension


flitter

Then all three went out to the flitter. A tiny speedster, really; a torpedo bearing stubby wings and the ludicrous tail-surfaces, the multifarious driving-, braking-, side-, top-, and under-jets so characteristic of the tricky, cranky, but ultra-maneuverable breed.

1941 July, Edward Elmer Smith, “The Vortex Blaster”, in Comet Stories, volume 1, number 5, page 10:

Small flitters were powered and made ready, and everything that carried manual controls was inspected and cleared for action.

1944 March, George Oliver Smith, “Circle of Confusion”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 33, number 1, page 54:

The small flitters carried by the Queen for exploration work held with comfort a two-man crew—with crowding, three.

1955, Alice Mary Norton (as Andrew North), Sargasso of Space, page 53:

The flitter tumbled from the shimmering throat of the wormhole transit route from Port Sol to Earthport.

1994, Stephen Baxter, Ring, →ISBN, page 43:

(science fiction) A small aircraft or spacecraft.


synth

(science fiction) A synthetic humanoid, an android, a robot, a clone


nanite

I had the nanites install the brackets, then climbed up there with the panels, placed them on the brackets, and had the nanites secure them.

2017, Stephanie C. Fox, New World Order Underwater, page 76:

Disperse into a cloud of nanites.

2021 August 11, Thomas Happ, Axiom Verge 2, Nintendo Switch, description for Tilhar


No, the slightest imbalance there would have alarms flashing all over the room. Probably it was the fact that he knew the threedee was a little out of whack.

1969, Dave Van Arnam, Starmind, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, page 14:

(science fiction) A system capable of recording or displaying three-dimensional video.

A man Ellaby's own size was sitting there, viewing a 3D. When he heard Ellaby at the door he got up.

1955 January, Martin Lesser, “The Dictator”, in Imagination, volume 6, number 1, page 85:

(science fiction) A three-dimensional video.


ice bucket

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(science fiction, slang, humorous) A pod or similar device containing a person in cryosleep.


shapeshifter

/ˈʃeɪpʃɪftə/

The shapeshifter Lisa Bowalk, unable to shed the guise of a black panther, had gone onto the plain as a prisoner but was not now to be found among the dead above or the Captured down below.

Like the teller of shapeshifter stories—who conjures a shifting world of perceptions and expectations for his or her audience that is strikingly similar to the worlds created by the shapeshifter for its victims—the cultural practice of imagination...is an inherently shifty enterprise....

2003, Michael Bathgate, The Fox's Craft in Japanese Religion and Folklore: Shapeshifters, Transformations and Duplicities:

There have also been verified reports of fire-starters and ice-makers and a shapeshifter so powerful she was able to frame another Smallville citizen for a bank robbery!

Granted, Grace is talking about actual transformation, but she's a shapeshifter. For her, growing a couple inches taller is like an alternative to wearing high heels.

2015 January 30, Dan Shive, “Comic for Friday, Jan 30, 2015”, in El Goonish Shive - EGS:NP, archived from the original on 2022-08-13:

(fantasy, mythology, science fiction) A person or creature capable of changing their appearance or form at will.

canviaformes

creature capable of changing its appearance


warbird

(science fiction) A heavily-armed starship.


spacing

en-noun

spacing (countable and uncountable, plural spacings)

He was a laconic old soul who loved spacing only a jot better than he loved Martian alky.

1949 February 14, Alfred Coppel, “Runaway”, in Planet Stories, volume 4, number 2 (Spring):

(science fiction) The activity of working or living in outer space; the occupation of a spacer.


humaniform

(science fiction, robotics) A robot resembling a human.


borganism

The word and concept are derived from The Borg, a race of cyborgs in the fictional Star Trek universe with a hive mind that operates as one.

(rare, idiomatic, science fiction, politics) Some forms of government.


xenoarchaeology

(science fiction) A fictional science, concerned with the physical remains of alien cultures. These may be found on planets which have been inhabited or visited by extraterrestrials.


monkey boy

(derogatory, science fiction) Term of offense directed at male humans in general.


fembot

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Blend of female + -bot. Coined by screenwriters Arthur Rowe and Oliver Crawford in the television series The Bionic Woman (1976–1978), specifically in "Kill Oscar" (season 2, episode 5) first broadcast on October 27, 1976.

Yes, the girl is valuable. But, my fembots can do anything she can.

1976 October 27, Arthur Rowe, Oliver Crawford, Kill Oscar (The Bionic Woman), season 2, episode 5, spoken by Dr. Franklin (John Houseman):

Jawohl, Herr Doktor. I have created the ultimate weapon to defeat Austin Powers. Send in the fembots!

1997, Mike Myers, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, spoken by Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling):

The body of Eve 8, the fembot, represents both steely industrial strength and the mysteries of microelectronic circuitry.

2003, Jyanni Steffensen, “Doing It Digitally: Rosalind Brodsky and the Art of Virtual Female Subjectivity”, in Reload: Rethinking Women + Cyberculture, The MIT Press, →ISBN, page 218:

(science fiction) A robot in female or feminine form.

A robot in female or feminine form.
A female sexbot.


photokinesis

photokinesis (usually uncountable, plural photokineses)

(parapsychology, science fiction) The ability to mentally manipulate light.


hydrokinesis

(fantasy, science fiction) The psychic ability to manipulate or control water


subspace

subspace (countable and uncountable, plural subspaces)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-subspace.wav

(uncountable, science fiction) Any (often unspecified) method of communicating or travelling faster than light speed.

(uncountable, science fiction) An alternative dimension or universe, access to or use of which permits faster-than-light travel or communications; hyperspace.


omniverse

(science fiction) The entire set of co-existing universes, multiverses, etc.


little green man

little green man (plural little green men)

[ˌlɪ.ɾɫ̩ ˈɡɹɪ̃i̯m ˌmɛ̃ə̯n̆]

[ˌlɪ.t͡ʔɫ̩ ˈɡɹɪ̃i̯m ˌmãn̆]

[ˌlɘ.ɾɯ ˈɡɹɘ̯ĩm ˌmɛ̞̃n̆]

կանաչ մարդուկ

humorous: space alien, Martian — see also alien

An engram is NOT [...] One of the little green men Americans claim have crashed in flying saucers.

1950 December 6, The Sydney Morning Herald, page 3, column 5:

(chiefly science fiction) A conventional fictional alien from outer space in the form of a small humanoid with green skin.


blaster

Blast out the lakes and canals—whittle down the peaks and mounds with atomic blasters—file them into the shape of gigantic buildings.

1938 April, Henry Kuttner, “Hollywood on the Moon”, in Thrilling Wonder Stories, volume 11, number 2, page 26:

One slender hand clung near a singular jewel, like a great white snow crystal, that hung from her throat. And the other, with a practiced and familiar grip, held a barytron blaster of the newest legion design. An unwilling little glisten had come into the violet eyes. Her blond head flung angrily. She caught her breath, and lifted the barytron blaster. Its bright tube pointed straight between his shoulders. He would never even know.

1939 June, Jack Williamson, “One Against the Legion”, in Astounding Science-Fiction, volume 23, number 4, page 138:

(science fiction) An unspecified powerful hand weapon, usually one that fires an energy pulse or beam.


death ray

(science fiction) A beam of radiation that can kill.


ray gun

Keep your 'lectric eye on me babe / Put your ray gun to my head

1972, “Moonage Daydream”, in The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, performed by David Bowie:

(science fiction, weaponry) A weapon that shoots harmful rays.


earthbound

en-adj

earthbound (comparative more earthbound, superlative most earthbound)

more earthbound (comparative)
most earthbound (superlative)

(science fiction) Heading towards Earth.

a föld felé tartó/közeledő/haladó/irányuló


Spock

en-proper noun

Spock (countable and uncountable, plural Spocks)

Alternative form: Mr. Spock

This caricature called economic man was not only completely self-centered, he was also entirely rational in all his decisions, whether consuming or investing—a veritable Mr. Spock.

2010, William McDonald Wallace, The Decline and Fall of the U.S. Economy: How Liberals and Conservatives Both Got It Wrong, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, page 48:

Phelps's calorie intake may seem superhuman, and his 6' 4", 185-pound body may recall Greek statuary, but fans are also drawn to him by a goofy grin and oversized ears that led to his being called Spock on the school bus.

2008 December 2, “Sportsman of the Year: Michael Phelps”, in Sports Illustrated:

(science fiction) In Star Trek, a Starfleet commander and science officer of the USS Enterprise, especially known for his Vulcan logic, reason, and stoicism and his distinctive pointed ears.


warp factor

From the science-fiction series Star Trek.

(science fiction) A hypothetical figure indicating a space vessel's speed greater than the speed of light.


Earthican

Blend of Earth + American. Possibly popularized by the adult animated sitcom Futurama.

I went to an Earth Day event in San Francisco and there was this huge Earthican flag, circa 3000 A.D., with the red and white stripes and an image of Earth up in the corner.

2002 April 23, Jym Dyer, “Earthican Day”, in alt.tv.futurama (Usenet):

Just consider that, over time, on a scale of millions of years, earthican continents have had *lots* of different configurations

2004 October 18, Wayne Throop, “Early parallel-universe stories”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet):

You may remember him [Paul Hellyer] from such news articles as "Is there a party Paul hasn't belonged to or at least tried to join?" and "How dare the Americans threaten the delicate Earthican-Alien relationship by [planning] to emplace armed bases on the Moon?"

2006 May 25, James Nicoll, “Spider's Heinlein novel [was: Re: ConCarolinas 2006 is coming!]”, in rec.arts.sf.fandom (Usenet):

that first step is enough to make direct attacks rather tricky, to make most of the Earthican powers' armed forces useless.

2006 June 27, John Schilling, “David Drake - Leary and the RCN”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet):

(nonstandard, humorous, science fiction) Of or from the planet Earth.


Earthican

Fry: Well, if you're going to be Earthicans, we're going to have to teach you.

2001 April, “A Leela of Her Own”, in Futurama, season 4, episode 10:

(nonstandard, humorous, science fiction) An inhabitant of planet Earth.


Dyson sphere

Named after American theoretical physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson, who originally described the concept in 1960.

named-after

"But there's more to a Dyson sphere than collecting solar power.
"Say you make the sphere one astronomical unit in radius. You've got to clear out the solar system anyway, so you use all the solar planets in the construction. That gives you a shell of, say, chrome steel a few yards thick. Now you put gravity generators all over the shell. You'd have a surface area a billion times as big as the Earth's surface. A trillion people could wander all their lives without ever meeting one another."

1970 October, Larry Niven, Ringworld, →ISBN, page 106:

Aye, an actual Dyson sphere. Can you imagine the engineering skills needed to even design such a structure?

1992 October 12, Ronald D. Moore, “Relics”, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 7, episode 4, spoken by Scotty (James Doohan):

You could even extend the argument to say why, on purely selfish grounds, a benign intelligence might remain benevolently engaged with the rest of the universe, rather than hiding away in a Dyson sphere and literally wireheading itself - because the payoff for expansive engagement will necessarily eventually exceed any possible payoff accompanying solitary self-reconstruction.

2005 August 19, Mitchell Porter, “Re: Paperclip monster, demise of.”, in SL4 mailing list, message-ID <BAY103-F40D2C8C3B70C9EB8A834EACAB50@phx.gbl>:

Meridian is a construct akin to a Dyson sphere: a vast, hollow shell encompassing a power source that provides heat and light to lush green biomes in the interior.

2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Meridian Codex entry:

(science fiction) A solid shell of matter enclosing a star.


runabout

(science fiction) A small, relatively maneuverable spacecraft or shuttlecraft.


beanstalk

If we don't build a Beanstalk, somebody else will—and once one is working, the number of rocket launches will drop to zero. That's the source of more than half our income.

1979, Charles Sheffield, The Web Between the Worlds:

I have never liked riding the Beanstalk. My distaste was full-blown even before the disaster to the Quito Skyhook. A cable that goes up into the sky with nothing to hold it up smells too much of magic.

1982, Robert A[nson] Heinlein, Friday, page 1:

Space elevators proposed for the Earth require novel high-strength materials and a substantial counterweight for their implementation. The problem becomes easier for Mars. There is no available "counterweight" for a synchronous "beanstalk" but Phobos proves a substantial anchor in non-synchronous orbit. A tether extending 1456 km from Phobos could release objects into an orbit just entering the Martian atmosphere, providing a launch and recovery device for Mars Excursion Modules. Extending the "beanstalk" to a length of 5832 km would place the end at the fringes of the Martian atmosphere.

2005 May 14, Bob Parkinson, “Partial Beanstalks for Mars Exploration”, in Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, volume 58, number 05/06, page 197:

(chiefly science fiction) A space elevator.


gynoid

She was obviously a skillful surgeon. She expertly cleaned and sterilized the gaping holes in the gynoid’s chest and back.

2000, Thomas J. Sanders, God's Fire, Trafford Publishing, page 58:

Purchased as sex toys, the gynoids are programmed to love and sexually serve male humans; the aberrant violence of one particular model, called "Hadaly," is a mystery to the company that manufactures them. They should not be able to kill humans, nor should they have any desire to commit suicide, since they should have no real sense of self.⁴⁴ Batõ and his new partner, Togusa (who was Kusanagi's partner in the previous film), spend the rest of the film trying to discover how the gynoids have acquired their faulty programming—is it the work of a terrorist hacker, for example, targeting prominent men?

2006, Sharalyn Orbagh, “5: Frankenstein and the Cyborg Metropolis: The Evolution of Body and City in Science Fiction Narratives”, in Steven T. Brown, editor, Cinema Anime: Critical Engagements with Japanese Animation, Springer, page 99:

She is embodied as a bright blue feminized robot, much like the mechanized gynoids in the classic film Metropolis (1928).

2013, Nickie D. Phillips, Staci Strobl, Comic Book Crime: Truth, Justice, and the American Way, New York University Press, page 82:

(science fiction) An android (humanoid robot) in female form.


basilisco

Borrowed from Latin basiliscus, from Ancient Greek βασιλίσκος (basilískos, “little king”), diminutive of βασιλεύς (basileús, “chief, king”).

der

(mythology, science fiction) basilisk (snake-like dragon type)


金星人

цзиньсинжэнь

/t͡ɕin⁵⁵ ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ʐən³⁵/

/kɐm⁵⁵ sɪŋ⁵⁵ jɐn²¹/

/t͡ɕin⁵⁵ ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ʐən³⁵/

/kɐm⁵⁵ sɪŋ⁵⁵ jɐn²¹/

(science fiction) Venusian (inhabitant of Venus)


金星人

金星人 (canonical)
kinseijin (romanization)

[kʲĩɰ̃se̞ːʑĩɴ]

金星 (Kinsei, “Venus”) + 人 (-jin, “human”)

suf

(science fiction) a Venusian (inhabitant of Venus)


火星人

ㄏㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄥ ㄖㄣˊ

/xu̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ʐən³⁵/

/fɔː³⁵ sɪŋ⁵⁵ jɐn²¹/

/xu̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ʐən³⁵/

/fɔː³⁵ sɪŋ⁵⁵ jɐn²¹/

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 火(か)星(せい)人(じん) (kaseijin).

(science fiction) Martian (inhabitant of Mars)


火星人

[ka̠se̞ːʑĩɴ]

(science fiction) a Martian (inhabitant of Mars)


skimmer

Kondric stood beside the skimmer for a moment, looking back at his warriors. They shouted and banged their swords on their shields. He raised his hand in farewell, and followed Violet into the cabin.

2015, Aurora Springer, Grand Master's Pawn:

They said no one landed on other planets. They said there was no such thing as a skimmer. Rocky hadn't believed them. They didn't know everything. He wished they could see the skimmer.

2000, Carlie Simonsen, Rocky to the Rescue, page 2:

(science fiction) A small, fast-moving spacecraft.


esper

From ESP + -er from ESP (“extrasensory perception”).

I don't know why anybody would be spying on me, either, but—I'm neither a Lensman nor an esper, but I'd swear that somebody's peeking over my shoulder half the time.

1942 June 14, Edward Elmer Smith, “Storm Cloud on Deka”, in Astonishing Stories, volume 3, number 4:

But Espers can’t pick up any EK brain pattern farther than the horizon. It’s direct wave transmission. Even large objects cannot be penetrated. A building, say, or a—

1950 August 14, Alfred Bester, “The Devil's Invention”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 45, number 6, page 139:

extrasensory perception
extrasensory perception

(chiefly science fiction) A person who has extrasensory perception.


planeteer

Blend of planet + volunteer or planet + -eer.

(science fiction, rare) Someone who makes interplanetary journeys.


terraform

en-verb

terraform (third-person singular simple present terraforms, present participle terraforming, simple past and past participle terraformed)

terraforms (present singular third-person)
terraforming (participle present)
terraformed (participle past)
terraformed (past)

/ˈtɛɹəfɔː(ɹ)m/

From Terra (“planet Earth”) + -form (“having the form of”). Coined by American science fiction author Jack Williamson in 1942 as part of his novella Collision Orbit.

coin

He had been the original claimant of Obania, forty years ago; and Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock, only two kilometers through—by sinking a shaft to its heart for the paragravity installation, generating oxygen and water from mineral oxides, releasing absorptive gases to trap the feeble heat of the far-off Sun.

1942 July, Jack Williamson, “Collision Orbit”, in Astounding Science-Fiction, volume 29, number 5, page 82:

(chiefly science fiction) To transform the atmosphere (or biosphere) of another planet into one having the characteristics of Earth.

maankaltaistaa

transform into one having the characteristics of Earth


deflector

The blasters are those beams of ravening destruction which take care of recalcitrant meteorites in a spaceship's course when the deflectors can't handle them.

1945 May 14, Murray Leinster, “First Contact”, in Astounding Stories, volume 35, number 3:

Deflectors say there's something there, sensors say there isn't. Density negative. Radiation negative. Energy negative.

1966 September 22, Samuel A. Peeples, Where No Man Has Gone Before (Star Trek), episode 3, spoken by Spock (Leonard Nimoy):

PICARD: If the Romulans have returned to this sector we should know about that. Mister Worf, any further activity?
WORF: Negative, sir.
PICARD: Slow to half impulse.
LAFORGE: Going to one half impulse. ... Now entering quadrant nine-zero-seven, mark three.
PICARD: Shields and deflectors up. Go to Yellow Alert.

1988 March 21, Heart of Glory (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (Science Fiction), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC:

(science fiction) A force field; an invisible barrier used as a protective shield.


butterfly effect

en-noun

butterfly effect (plural butterfly effects)

A Sound of Thunder
Chaos: Making a New Science
Edward Lorenz
Lorenz attractor
Ray Bradbury
butterfly effect

Coined by American author and historian of science James Gleick in 1987 in his book Chaos: Making a New Science, whose first chapter bears the title “The Butterfly Effect”, and in which he discusses “the paradox of the butterfly’s wings” potentially making the difference whether a hurricane will or will not arise somewhere else later. Meteorologist Edward Lorenz, the founder of modern chaos theory, had in 1972, at a scientific meeting, presented a paper entitled “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings set off a tornado in Texas?” without using the specific term butterfly effect. Lorenz also notes that representations of the strange attractor now known as the “Lorenz attractor” resemble a butterfly, as well as that correspondents have drawn his attention to Ray Bradbury’s short science fiction story “A Sound of Thunder”, in which a time traveler’s crushing a butterfly in the Late Cretaceous changes the outcome of a present-day presidential election. But the metaphorical butterfly was actually introduced in the title of the 1972 presentation by meteorologist Philip Merilees, who was not familiar with Bradbury’s story.

coinage

Example of butterfly effect: stepping on a bug 4,000 years ago causes a different person to win the presidential election today.

(by extension, science fiction) The notion that small changes in the past via time travel can cause disproportionately large and unforeseeable consequences in the present.


mindwipe

en-verb

mindwipe (third-person singular simple present mindwipes, present participle mindwiping, simple past and past participle mindwiped)

mindwipes (present singular third-person)
mindwiping (participle present)
mindwiped (participle past)
mindwiped (past)

Whether they were mindwiped upon their return to base, or simply terminated like useless equipment, Deutsch never knew.

2001, Jeffrey A Carver, James A Carver, Eternity's End:

In Adventures of Superman #636, Superman told Wonder Woman and Batman about how the League had mindwiped Dr. Light...

2006, Jeffery Klaehn, Inside the World of Comic Books:

(transitive, science fiction) To erase the memories and personality, while still leaving an intact, living brain and body. This is frequently portrayed as a form of capital punishment, which leaves a viable body into which a different personality or mind can be uploaded.


mindwipe

The mindwipe of Magneto is a necessary action and it is also a wrong one, but it appears to be the only way to save the human population from extinction.

2009, Andrew Terjesen, “Dirty Hands and Dirty Minds: The Ethics of Mind Reading and Mindwriting”, in X-Men and Philosophy:

(science fiction) The act of mindwiping.


beam up

beam up (third-person singular simple present beams up, present participle beaming up, simple past and past participle beamed up)

beams up (present singular third-person)
beaming up (participle present)
beamed up (participle past)
beamed up (past)

(science fiction, transitive) To teleport (someone or something) using a (fictional) device, especially from the surface of a planet to an orbiting starship.

(science fiction, intransitive) To be teleported, or to teleport oneself, in this manner.


force-field

(chemistry, physics, science fiction) Alternative spelling of force field


forcefield

Penny's world seemed only to make sense to her as a forcefield of detestations.

2004, Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty […], 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:


force field

(science fiction) An invisible barrier used as a protective shield.


communicator

‘Observation Officer of the Z12Q, attention!’ snapped from the tight-beam headquarters communicator. ‘Cut off those spy rays and report yourself under arrest for treason!’

1934 August 14, Edward Elmer Smith, “Skylark of Valeron”, in Astounding Stories, volume 13, number 6:

Captain, if the Iotians, who are very bright an imitative people, should take that communicator apart...

1968 January 12, David P. Harmon, Gene L. Coon, A Piece of the Action (Star Trek), season 2, episode 17, spoken by Spock (Leonard Nimoy):

(science fiction) A usually portable communications device.


hivemind

Kevin Kelly (editor)
Out of Control (Kelly book)

From hive + mind, originally applied to beehives. As a metaphor for collective intelligence popularized in Out of Control (1992) by Kevin Kelly.

It traces the growth of homo gestalt with the uniting of six lovely outcasts of society who have psi powers and come together as a hive mind, thus creating a gestalt super-being.

2005, Michael Ashley, Transformations: The History of the Science Fiction Magazine 1950 to 1970, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, page 133:

Though now extinct, the rachni once threatened every species in Citadel space. Over 2000 years ago, explorers foolishly opened a mass relay to a previously-unknown system and encountered something never seen before or since: a species of spacefaring insects guided by a hive-mind intelligence.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Rachni Codex entry:

We have the villainous Borg of Star Trek: a hive mind of individuals robbed of their individuality, communicating with each other not by touch or even speech but by omnipresent computer networks.

2011 February 15, Michael Chorost, “‘World Wide Mind’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(science fiction) A collection of minds somehow linked or unified, possibly as if by telepathy.


time tunnel

(science fiction) A passageway enabling time travel.


miniaturize

miniaturize (third-person singular simple present miniaturizes, present participle miniaturizing, simple past and past participle miniaturized)

miniaturizes (present singular third-person)
miniaturizing (participle present)
miniaturized (participle past)
miniaturized (past)

(science fiction) To physically shrink in size, i.e. through the use of a shrink ray.


hyperdrive

The ship's hyperdrive had failed, leaving them stranded years from any repair base.

(science fiction) A spaceship engine that allows faster-than-light travel by entering hyperspace.


BEM

Incidentally, Mr. Bergey, the BEM's on your latest smear have extremely jovial expressions on their pans to be as tough a bunch of eggs as Friend made them out.

1940 November, Parmer Farrell, “The Reader Speaks”, in Thrilling Wonder Stories, volume 18, number 2, page 120:

This is my first time in active BEM service. They've never let me near the Bugs before.

1997, Lawrence Miles, Alien Bodies, →ISBN, page 89:

(science fiction, fandom slang, often derogatory) A stock character in science fiction; a grotesque creature, often an extraterrestrial, that menaces the protagonists.


replicator

Why, this planet was still centuries away from developing such necessities as personal replicators or portable nano-intelligences...

2001, Greg Cox, The Eugenics Wars Vol I: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek), Star Trek, →ISBN, page 76:

either there is not such thing as a concept known as 'spacecraft' (inwhich case, any talk of spacecraft, warp drives, inertial dampers, replicators, and the like would be pointless), or indeed there is.

2001, Judith Barad, Ed Robertson, The Ethics of Star Trek, Harper Perennial, →ISBN, page 74:

The scanner here on Earth will destroy my brain and body, while recording the exact states of all of my cells. It will the transmit this information by radio. Travelling at the speed of light, the message will take three minutes to reach the Replicator on Mars. This will then create, out of new matter, a brain and body exactly like mine. It will be in this body that I shall wake up.

2007, Douglas Hofstadter, I Am a Strange Loop, Basic Books, →ISBN, pages 301–302:

(science fiction) A technological device that replicates physical objects.


novum

en-noun

novum (countable and uncountable, plural novums or nova)

In his book Metamorphoses of Science Fiction (1979), Suvin introduced a number of ideas that remain central in sf criticism: cognitive estrangement, the novum and sf's genetic link with utopia.[…]Even more influential in sf theory than cognitive estrangement is Suvin's concept of the novum.[…]Suvin adopts the concept of the novum from the work of Ernst Bloch, for whom the term refers to those concrete innovations of lived history that awaken human collective consciousness out of a static present to awareness that history can be changed. The novum thus inspires hope for positive historical transformations.

2003, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr., “7: Marxist theory and science fiction”, in Edward James, Farah Mendlesohn, editors, The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, Cambridge University Press, page 118:

It seems that this ‘point of difference’, the thing or things that differentiate the world portrayed in science fiction from the world we recognise around us, is the crucial separator between SF and other forms of imaginative or fantastic literature. The critic Darko Suvin has usefully coined the term ‘novum’, the Latin for ‘new’ or ‘new thing’, to refer to this ‘point of difference’ (the plural is ‘nova’). An SF text may be based on one novum, such as [...]. More usually it will be predicated on a number of interrelated nova, such as [...]. This ‘novum’ must not be supernatural but need not necessarily be a piece of technology.

2006, Adam Roberts, Science Fiction, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), pages 6–7:

cognitive estrangement
cognitive estrangement

(narratology, science fiction) An innovation which is fictional, but, following the logic of cognitive estrangement (characteristic of science fiction), is afforded plausibility by the assumption that the fictional setting is scientifically consistent.


auton

Coined by Robert Holmes in 1969, from a contraction of automaton.

Not far away in the woods the Auton had been standing motionless under a tree. It was shaped like a man but it was not human.

1974, Terrance Dicks, Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion, page 55:

Juan made seven attempts to pervert the auton. One involved twelve hundred years of careful observation, timing the failure of various subsystems, maneuvering the auton into a position where he might take control and get transportation to resources in near space.

1986, Vernor Vinge, Marooned in Realtime:

"The Metrologan Order built the auton that was Ninth. How can you be so sure that she was not so well crafted that she really did have her own will?"

2002, Sean McMullen, Voyage of the Shadowmoon, page 461:

(science fiction) A machine or robot, usually in the form of a living being, designed to follow a precise sequence of instructions.


poimuttaa

poimutan (first-person indicative present singular)
en poimuta (first-person indicative negative present singular)
olen poimuttanut (first-person indicative perfect singular)
en ole poimuttanut (first-person indicative negative perfect singular)
poimutat (indicative present second-person singular)
et poimuta (indicative negative present second-person singular)
olet poimuttanut (indicative perfect second-person singular)
et ole poimuttanut (indicative negative perfect second-person singular)
poimuttaa (indicative present singular third-person)
ei poimuta (indicative negative present singular third-person)
on poimuttanut (indicative perfect singular third-person)
ei ole poimuttanut (indicative negative perfect singular third-person)
poimutamme (first-person indicative plural present)
emme poimuta (first-person indicative negative plural present)
olemme poimuttaneet (first-person indicative perfect plural)
emme ole poimuttaneet (first-person indicative negative perfect plural)
poimutatte (indicative plural present second-person)
ette poimuta (indicative negative plural present second-person)
olette poimuttaneet (indicative perfect plural second-person)
ette ole poimuttaneet (indicative negative perfect plural second-person)
poimuttavat (indicative plural present third-person)
eivät poimuta (indicative negative plural present third-person)
ovat poimuttaneet (indicative perfect plural third-person)
eivät ole poimuttaneet (indicative negative perfect plural third-person)
poimutetaan (indicative passive present)
ei poimuteta (indicative negative passive present)
on poimutettu (indicative passive perfect)
ei ole poimutettu (indicative negative passive perfect)
poimutin (first-person indicative past singular)
en poimuttanut (first-person indicative negative past singular)
olin poimuttanut (first-person indicative pluperfect singular)
en ollut poimuttanut (first-person indicative negative pluperfect singular)
poimutit (indicative past second-person singular)
et poimuttanut (indicative negative past second-person singular)
olit poimuttanut (indicative pluperfect second-person singular)
et ollut poimuttanut (indicative negative pluperfect second-person singular)
poimutti (indicative past singular third-person)
ei poimuttanut (indicative negative past singular third-person)
oli poimuttanut (indicative pluperfect singular third-person)
ei ollut poimuttanut (indicative negative pluperfect singular third-person)
poimutimme (first-person indicative past plural)
emme poimuttaneet (first-person indicative negative past plural)
olimme poimuttaneet (first-person indicative pluperfect plural)
emme olleet poimuttaneet (first-person indicative negative pluperfect plural)
poimutitte (indicative past plural second-person)
ette poimuttaneet (indicative negative past plural second-person)
olitte poimuttaneet (indicative pluperfect plural second-person)
ette olleet poimuttaneet (indicative negative pluperfect plural second-person)
poimuttivat (indicative past plural third-person)
eivät poimuttaneet (indicative negative past plural third-person)
olivat poimuttaneet (indicative pluperfect plural third-person)
eivät olleet poimuttaneet (indicative negative pluperfect plural third-person)
poimutettiin (indicative passive past)
ei poimutettu (indicative negative passive past)
oli poimutettu (indicative passive pluperfect)
ei ollut poimutettu (indicative negative passive pluperfect)
poimuttaisin (conditional first-person present singular)
en poimuttaisi (conditional first-person negative present singular)
olisin poimuttanut (conditional first-person perfect singular)
en olisi poimuttanut (conditional first-person negative perfect singular)
poimuttaisit (conditional present second-person singular)
et poimuttaisi (conditional negative present second-person singular)
olisit poimuttanut (conditional perfect second-person singular)
et olisi poimuttanut (conditional negative perfect second-person singular)
poimuttaisi (conditional present singular third-person)
ei poimuttaisi (conditional negative present singular third-person)
olisi poimuttanut (conditional perfect singular third-person)
ei olisi poimuttanut (conditional negative perfect singular third-person)
poimuttaisimme (conditional first-person plural present)
emme poimuttaisi (conditional first-person negative plural present)
olisimme poimuttaneet (conditional first-person perfect plural)
emme olisi poimuttaneet (conditional first-person negative perfect plural)
poimuttaisitte (conditional plural present second-person)
ette poimuttaisi (conditional negative plural present second-person)
olisitte poimuttaneet (conditional perfect plural second-person)
ette olisi poimuttaneet (conditional negative perfect plural second-person)
poimuttaisivat (conditional plural present third-person)
eivät poimuttaisi (conditional negative plural present third-person)
olisivat poimuttaneet (conditional perfect plural third-person)
eivät olisi poimuttaneet (conditional negative perfect plural third-person)
poimutettaisiin (conditional passive present)
ei poimutettaisi (conditional negative passive present)
olisi poimutettu (conditional passive perfect)
ei olisi poimutettu (conditional negative passive perfect)
poimuta (imperative present second-person singular)
älä poimuta (imperative negative present second-person singular)
poimuttakoon (imperative present singular third-person)
älköön poimuttako (imperative negative present singular third-person)
olkoon poimuttanut (imperative perfect singular third-person)
älköön olko poimuttanut (imperative negative perfect singular third-person)
poimuttakaamme (first-person imperative plural present)
älkäämme poimuttako (first-person imperative negative plural present)
poimuttakaa (imperative plural present second-person)
älkää poimuttako (imperative negative plural present second-person)
poimuttakoot (imperative plural present third-person)
älkööt poimuttako (imperative negative plural present third-person)
olkoot poimuttaneet (imperative perfect plural third-person)
älkööt olko poimuttaneet (imperative negative perfect plural third-person)
poimutettakoon (imperative passive present)
älköön poimutettako (imperative negative passive present)
olkoon poimutettu (imperative passive perfect)
älköön olko poimutettu (imperative negative passive perfect)
poimuttanen (first-person potential present singular)
en poimuttane (first-person negative potential present singular)
lienen poimuttanut (first-person perfect potential singular)
en liene poimuttanut (first-person negative perfect potential singular)
poimuttanet (potential present second-person singular)
et poimuttane (negative potential present second-person singular)
lienet poimuttanut (perfect potential second-person singular)
et liene poimuttanut (negative perfect potential second-person singular)
poimuttanee (potential present singular third-person)
ei poimuttane (negative potential present singular third-person)
lienee poimuttanut (perfect potential singular third-person)
ei liene poimuttanut (negative perfect potential singular third-person)
poimuttanemme (first-person plural potential present)
emme poimuttane (first-person negative plural potential present)
lienemme poimuttaneet (first-person perfect plural potential)
emme liene poimuttaneet (first-person negative perfect plural potential)
poimuttanette (plural potential present second-person)
ette poimuttane (negative plural potential present second-person)
lienette poimuttaneet (perfect plural potential second-person)
ette liene poimuttaneet (negative perfect plural potential second-person)
poimuttanevat (plural potential present third-person)
eivät poimuttane (negative plural potential present third-person)
lienevät poimuttaneet (perfect plural potential third-person)
eivät liene poimuttaneet (negative perfect plural potential third-person)
poimutettaneen (passive potential present)
ei poimutettane (negative passive potential present)
lienee poimutettu (passive perfect potential)
ei liene poimutettu (negative passive perfect potential)
poimuttaa (infinitive infinitive-i)
poimuttava (active participle present)
poimutettava (participle passive present)
poimuttaakseni (first-person possessive singular)
poimuttaaksemme (first-person plural possessive)
poimuttaaksesi (possessive second-person singular)
poimuttaaksenne (plural possessive second-person)
poimuttaakseen (possessive third-person)
poimuttaaksensa (possessive third-person)
poimuttanut (infinitive-i-long past)
poimutettu (infinitive-i-long past)
poimuttaessa (inessive second-person)
poimutettaessa (inessive second-person)
poimuttama (agent)
poimuttaessani (first-person possessive singular)
poimuttaessamme (first-person plural possessive)
poimuttaessasi (possessive second-person singular)
poimuttaessanne (plural possessive second-person)
poimuttaessaan (possessive third-person)
poimuttaessansa (possessive third-person)
poimuttamaton (inessive negative second-person)
poimuttaen (instructive second-person)
poimuttamassa (inessive third-person)
poimuttamasta (elative third-person)
poimuttamaan (illative third-person)
poimuttamalla (adessive third-person)
poimuttamatta (abessive third-person)
poimuttaman (instructive third-person)
poimutettaman (instructive third-person)
poimuttaminen (fourth-person noun-from-verb)
poimuttamaisillani (first-person possessive singular)
poimuttamaisillamme (first-person plural possessive)
poimuttamaisillasi (possessive second-person singular)
poimuttamaisillanne (plural possessive second-person)
poimuttamaisillaan (possessive third-person)
poimuttamaisillansa (possessive third-person)

(science fiction) to warp (travel or transport across a medium without passing through it normally)


precognitive

(science fiction) A precognitive person, a seer.


astronavigation

(science fiction) Navigation through space


jack in

en-verb

jack in (third-person singular simple present jacks in, present participle jacking in, simple past and past participle jacked in)

jacks in (present singular third-person)
jacking in (participle present)
jacked in (participle past)
jacked in (past)

Watchman replaced him in the linkup seat. He jacked himself into the computer.

1970 June, Robert Silverberg, “The Tower of Glass”, in Galaxy Science Fiction, volume 30, number 3, page 141:

Seven days and he'd jack in. If he closed his eyes now, he'd see the matrix.

1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 37:

She couldn't move, not without that extra skeleton, and it was jacked straight into her brain, myoelectric interface.

1986, William Gibson, “Winter Market”, in Burning Chrome, page 129:

(science fiction, transitive, intransitive) To connect a brain directly to a computer.


Earthite

(science fiction, nonstandard) A person from planet Earth.


Earther

(science fiction) A person from planet Earth.


Earthan

(rare, science fiction, nonstandard) A person or thing from planet Earth; an Earthling.


Earthan

en-adj

Earthan (comparative more Earthan, superlative most Earthan)

more Earthan (comparative)
most Earthan (superlative)

When, for unknown reasons, gene-splicing with Earthan reptiles had failed to take, scientists had turned to the sea dragons found on the water world of Aquatilis, home planet of the merpeople.

2008, Crystal Jordan, Carnal Desires, page 59:

(rare, science fiction, nonstandard) Of or from planet Earth.


Earthian

Earthian (comparative more Earthian, superlative most Earthian)

more Earthian (comparative)
most Earthian (superlative)

Septimus Spink, sole survivor of the Earthian space ship...

1955. Fantastic Universe: Science Fiction, Great American Publications: 1955, page 41

An Earthian metallurgist could tell very easily that 'aluminum' was molybdenum...

1975. Hilary Putnam. Mind, Language, and Reality. Cambridge University Press: 1975, page 226

Nowadays speakers on Twin Earth are well aware (thanks to chemistry) that their word 'water' does not refer to the Earthian stuff.

1997. Diego Marconi. Lexical Competence. MIT Press: 1997, page 174

(science fiction) Of or from the planet Earth.


Earthian

I inquired of one prominent Earthian: "What's of constructing ships and buildings...?"

1940. America: A Catholic Review of the Week, America Press: 1940, page 420

I most likely will be the second Earthian to reach that planet. ...

1955. Fantastic Universe: Science Fiction, Great American Publications, 1955, page 41


Earthian

According to Fodor's definition, it follows that 'water' in Twin Earthian means XYZ and not H2O.

1997. Diego Marconi. Lexical Competence. MIT Press: 1997, page 102

I thought the females spoke Earthian to you. Improving their Earthian was why they asked for a couple.

2004. Sheri S. Tepper. The Companions. HarperCollins: 2004, page 79

(science fiction, rare) A universal language spoken on Earth.


disrupter

(science fiction) An energy weapon in the form of a pistol.


sophont

From Ancient Greek σοφός (sophós, “wise”) + ὤν (ṓn, “on”), present participle of εἰμί (eimí, “being, existing, essence”). First used in the 1966 works by Poul Anderson, coined by his wife Karen Anderson.

Likewise with the psychology of intelligent species. Most sophonts indeed possess basic instincts which diverge more or less from man's. With those of radically alien motivations we have little contact.

I'm honored to meet a sophont of the Soro line in person!

Evil, they argued, could only have meaning on smaller scales, in the hurt that one sophont does to another.

1992, Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep, Tor Books, page 406:

Only one sophont appeared to be involved—and not a sophisticated one.

1997, Spider Robinson, Lifehouse, Baen Books, page 2:

artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence

(chiefly science fiction) An intelligent being; a being with a base reasoning capacity roughly equivalent to or greater than that of a human being. The word does not apply to machines unless they have true artificial intelligence, rather than mere processing capacity.


Vulkanier

de-noun

Vulkanier m (strong, genitive Vulkaniers, plural Vulkanier)

Vulkaniers (genitive)
Vulkanier (plural)
Vulkanier (nominative singular)
Vulkanier (definite nominative plural)
Vulkaniers (genitive singular)
Vulkanier (definite genitive plural)
Vulkanier (dative singular)
Vulkaniern (dative definite plural)
Vulkanier (accusative singular)
Vulkanier (accusative definite plural)

(science fiction) Vulcan; A member of the humanoid race inhabiting the fictional planet Vulcan.


torcher

/ˈtɔːt͡ʃə(ɹ)/

-ɔː(ɹ)tʃə(ɹ)

(science fiction) The pilot of a spacecraft propelled by a torch drive (a spacecraft engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion).


waitron

(dated, science fiction) A robotic or mechanical waiter.


warp bubble

Coined in 1994 by Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre.

(astrophysics, science fiction) A detached region of spacetime which is theoretically capable of moving faster than the speed of light.


supercee

Presumed super- + cee, a respelling of the physics symbol c (denoting the speed of light in a vacuum; an abbreviation of both English constant and Latin celeritas (“swiftness”)).

But Man had always been a restless, persistent creature, and the stars called, and in an incredibly short space of time a highly-ingenious refinement of the theta drive gave him supercee.
“What I can’t understand, Psy, is why in the name of Mira the Terrans couldn’t have been admitted to the Federation as soon as they developed supercee. […]”
Offhand I’d say that the Terrans, when they hit on the secret of star-driving a planet, which isn’t much of a trick once the supercee principle is clearly understood, decided to go off on a hunt round the galaxy for a see-tee system.

1930, Information Access Company, Analog Science Fiction/science Fact, pp63, 73, & 77

1960, AUTHOR UNKNOWN, Astounding Science-fiction, pp70, 72, & 73; presumed to be an earlier work (1930 or earlier), as quotations 2 and 3 also appear in:

^({1})“[…] A couple of … after the last rescue ship had lif … into space and shifted into the … of supercee, the star exploded.”
^({2})“Surely you know the answer to that one,” he said after a moment or two, “or have you forgotten all about a little thing called the decrement effect?” The Psychologist nodded. “Precisely. The decrement effect. The factor that makes supercee — supercee as we know it, that is — inoperable in intergalactic space.” He looked thoughtful. “I don’t think anyone’s yet evolved a satisfactory theory to account for the existence of the effect. The only thing that’s certain is that it’s tied up in some way with gravity fields — or, rather, with the absence of g-fields.” He shrugged.
^({3})“What I can’t understand, Psy, is why in the name of Mira the Terrans couldn’t have been admitted to the Federation as soon as they developed supercee. […]”

1930, Information Access Company, Analog Science Fiction/science Fact, page 72:

The core was virtually unreachable at supercee velocities. So the Lost Star’s bleep has been sounding for eighty years, and no ship has reached her.

1979, Frank Northen Magill, Survey of Science Fiction Literature, Salem Press, →ISBN, page 937:

(rare, science fiction) Faster-than-light travelling speed.


marciano

pt-noun

marciano m (plural marcianos, feminine marciana, feminine plural marcianas)

marcianos (plural)
marciana (feminine)
marcianas (feminine plural)

(ufology, science fiction) Martian (inhabitant of the planet Mars)


uncloak

en-verb

uncloak (third-person singular simple present uncloaks, present participle uncloaking, simple past and past participle uncloaked)

uncloaks (present singular third-person)
uncloaking (participle present)
uncloaked (participle past)
uncloaked (past)

Don't try to target the Klingons as they uncloak, you won't have time. Just use the phasers to make a nofly zone between us and the Takagi.

2011, David Mack, Rise Like Lions (Star Trek: Mirror Universe):

(intransitive, science fiction) To become visible again by turning off a cloaking device.


replicant

From Latin replicāns, present participle of replicō. The science fiction sense was coined by David Peoples in the 1982 film Blade Runner.

(science fiction) A robot or artificial being that is an exact copy of a genuine lifeform, especially a human.


teletrasportare

it-verb

teletrasportàre (first-person singular present teletraspòrto, first-person singular past historic teletrasportài, past participle teletrasportàto, auxiliary avére)

teletrasportàre (canonical)
teletraspòrto (first-person present singular)
teletrasportài (first-person historic past singular)
teletrasportàto (participle past)
avére (auxiliary)
teletrasportàre (infinitive)
avére (auxiliary)
teletrasportàndo (gerund)
teletrasportànte (participle present)
teletrasportàto (participle past)
teletraspòrto (first-person indicative present singular)
teletraspòrti (indicative present second-person singular)
teletraspòrta (indicative present singular third-person)
teletrasportiàmo (first-person indicative plural present)
teletrasportàte (indicative plural present second-person)
teletraspòrtano (indicative plural present third-person)
teletrasportàvo (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
teletrasportàvi (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
teletrasportàva (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
teletrasportavàmo (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
teletrasportavàte (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
teletrasportàvano (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
teletrasportài (first-person historic indicative past singular)
teletrasportàsti (historic indicative past second-person singular)
teletrasportò (historic indicative past singular third-person)
teletrasportàmmo (first-person historic indicative past plural)
teletrasportàste (historic indicative past plural second-person)
teletrasportàrono (historic indicative past plural third-person)
teletrasporterò (first-person future indicative singular)
teletrasporterài (future indicative second-person singular)
teletrasporterà (future indicative singular third-person)
teletrasporterémo (first-person future indicative plural)
teletrasporteréte (future indicative plural second-person)
teletrasporterànno (future indicative plural third-person)
teletrasporterèi (conditional first-person present singular)
teletrasporterésti (conditional present second-person singular)
teletrasporterèbbe (conditional present singular third-person)
teletrasporterébbe (conditional present singular third-person)
teletrasporterémmo (conditional first-person plural present)
teletrasporteréste (conditional plural present second-person)
teletrasporterèbbero (conditional plural present third-person)
teletrasporterébbero (conditional plural present third-person)
teletraspòrti (first-person present singular subjunctive)
teletraspòrti (present second-person singular subjunctive)
teletraspòrti (present singular subjunctive third-person)
teletrasportiàmo (first-person plural present subjunctive)
teletrasportiàte (plural present second-person subjunctive)
teletraspòrtino (plural present subjunctive third-person)
teletrasportàssi (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
teletrasportàssi (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
teletrasportàsse (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
teletrasportàssimo (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
teletrasportàste (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
teletrasportàssero (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
teletraspòrta (imperative second-person singular)
teletraspòrti (formal imperative second-person-semantically singular third-person)
teletrasportiàmo (first-person imperative plural)
teletrasportàte (imperative plural second-person)
teletraspòrtino (formal imperative plural second-person-semantically third-person)
teletrasportàre (imperative negative second-person singular)
teletraspòrti (formal imperative negative second-person-semantically singular third-person)
teletrasportiàmo (first-person imperative negative plural)
teletrasportàte (imperative negative plural second-person)
teletraspòrtino (formal imperative negative plural second-person-semantically third-person)

(transitive, science fiction) to teleport, to beam


positronic

From positron + -ic. The science fiction sense was coined by American science fiction author Isaac Asimov in 1941 in his short story "Liar!".

coin

By exact count, there are seventy-five thousand, two hundred and thirty-four operations necessary for the manufacture of a single positronic brain.

1941 May, Isaac Asimov, “Liar!”, in Astounding Science-Fiction, volume 27, number 3:

(science fiction) Of or pertaining to a supposed analogue of electronics using positrons


shifter

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-shifter.wav

(mythology, science fiction, fantasy) A shape-shifter; a person or other being capable of changing their physical form, especially a lycanthrope.


holocube

One wall was a huge holo cube displaying Geneva's table of organization, a spidery orange pyramid with tens of thousands of names connected by lines, from the mayor at the top to the “corridor security” people at the base.

1976, Joe Haldeman, The Forever War, New York: Ballantine Books, page 113:

He snapped a holo-cube into the projector and switched on. I gasped and shrank back in my seat as a great crustacean sprang into being in front of me, blind, chitinous, rust-red, and malevolent.

1978, Charles Sheffield, “The Deimos Plague”, in Stellar Science Fiction Stories, n 4, New York: Del Rey, p 146

And on a little table beside the bed, he found a holocube with a tiny picture of a woman wearing a yellow dress in it. When he moved the ’cube, the woman waved at him and laughed.

1990, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, volume 79, page 113:

Not a cassette, not an infodisk, not a holocube, but an actual book, with a cover and binding and pages.
Used in Flashback: The Quest for Identity (video game), Star Wars, Tyrian, and Spider-Man (1994 TV series).

1992, Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg, The Positronic Man, New York: Doubleday, p 25

(science fiction) A cube-shaped device that shows or stores holographic pictures.


obcy

pl-adj

obcy (comparative bardziej obcy, superlative najbardziej obcy, derived adverb obco)

bardziej obcy (comparative)
najbardziej obcy (superlative)
obcy (masculine nominative singular)
obca (feminine nominative singular)
obce (neuter nominative singular)
obcy (nominative plural virile)
obce (nominative plural)
obcego (genitive masculine singular)
obcej (feminine genitive singular)
obcego (genitive neuter singular)
obcych (genitive plural)
obcych (genitive plural virile)
obcemu (dative masculine singular)
obcej (dative feminine singular)
obcemu (dative neuter singular)
obcym (dative plural)
obcym (dative plural virile)
obcego (accusative animate masculine singular)
obcy (accusative inanimate masculine singular)
obcą (accusative feminine singular)
obce (accusative neuter singular)
obcych (accusative plural virile)
obce (accusative plural)
obcym (instrumental masculine singular)
obcą (feminine instrumental singular)
obcym (instrumental neuter singular)
obcymi (instrumental plural)
obcymi (instrumental plural virile)
obcym (locative masculine singular)
obcej (feminine locative singular)
obcym (locative neuter singular)
obcych (locative plural)
obcych (locative plural virile)

(nominalized, science fiction, ufology) extraterrestrial, alien (not coming from Earth)


Eridian

(science fiction) a theoretical inhabitant of the dwarf planet Eris


transrealism

(science fiction) A literary mode that mixes the techniques of incorporating fantastic elements used in science fiction with the techniques of describing immediate perceptions from naturalistic realism.


スタートレック

(science fiction) Star Trek, a popular sci-fi series.


地球人

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (地球人):
* → Japanese: 地(ち)球(きゅう)人(じん) (chikyūjin)
* → Korean: 지구인(地球人) (jigu'in)

ㄉㄧˋ ㄑㄧㄡˊ ㄖㄣˊ

/ti⁵¹ t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵ ʐən³⁵/

/tei̯²² kʰɐu̯²¹ jɐn²¹/

/ti⁵¹ t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯³⁵ ʐən³⁵/

/tei̯²² kʰɐu̯²¹ jɐn²¹/

(science fiction) Earthling; Terran (inhabitant of Earth)


地球人

地球人 (canonical)
chikyūjin (romanization)

[t͡ɕikʲɨːʑĩɴ]

地球 (Chikyū, “Earth”) + 人 (-jin, “human”)

suf

1988 July 30 [1985 July 25], Fujiko F. Fujio, “宇(そ)宙(ら)からのおとし玉(だま) [An Outta-the-Ballue Falltune]”, in 宇宙船製造法 [How to Build a Spaceship] (藤子不二雄少年SF短編集; 3), 6th edition, volume 3 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 27:

You Earthlings are so selfish! No wonder you’re so isolated in the universe.

地球人は自分勝手すぎるんだ！だから、いつまでも宇宙で孤立してるんだ。

Chikyūjin wa jibun katte sugiru n da! Dakara, itsu made mo uchū de koritsu shiteru n da.

(science fiction) an Earthling; a Terran (inhabitant of Earth)


Thor's hammer

kinetic energy weapon
kinetic energy weapon

(weaponry, slang, science fiction) An orbital drop hypervelocity kinetic energy weapon (KEW). A theoretical weapon, originating from a U.S. government study, Project Thor, from the 1950s.


Callistoan

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Callisto


Titanian

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Titan (the Saturnian moon) or of Titania


Europan

(science fiction, demonym) An inhabitant of the astronomical body Europa (either the moon of Jupiter or the minor planet of the Main Asteroid Belt).