makeup editor

The Chief called the makeup editor to the stone, pointed to the story which had caught his eye, and suggested a fairly simple remake.

1965, George Murray, The Madhouse on Madison Street, page 38:

(printing, historical) Synonym of stone editor.


stone editor

(printing, historical) An editor who works with the compositor at the imposing stone to determine how material will be laid out on the page.


stone subeditor

en-noun

stone subeditor (plural stone subeditors)

(printing, historical) A subeditor having a similar role to that of the stone editor.


space-happy

en-adj

space-happy (comparative more space-happy, superlative most space-happy)

more space-happy (comparative)
most space-happy (superlative)

He worried Ground Control might think he'd gone space-happy, like Titov.

2007, David Michaels, Daniel Brenton, Red Moon, page 23:

(science fiction, slang) Crazy as a result of too much time spent in space.


lettermark

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

(marketing, communication, typography) A text-only logo consisting of the initials of a brand name or business.


space marine

Named after the marines, infantry soldiers who serve in coastal areas to assist naval forces.
The earliest usage of this term was from Bob Olsen's short story "Captain Brink of the Space Marines" in 1932, in which the titular soldiers rescue celebrity twins on Saturn's moon, Titan.

(science fiction) a soldier who fights in outer space or extraterrestrial worlds.


author mill

(publishing, derogatory) A publisher that relies on producing large numbers of small-run books by different authors, as opposed to a smaller number of works published in larger numbers.


backshadow

en-verb

backshadow (third-person singular simple present backshadows, present participle backshadowing, simple past and past participle backshadowed)

backshadows (present singular third-person)
backshadowing (participle present)
backshadowed (participle past)
backshadowed (past)

(literature) To demonstrate how an event that has already occurred will affect the future.


sideshadow

sideshadow (third-person singular simple present sideshadows, present participle sideshadowing, simple past and past participle sideshadowed)

sideshadows (present singular third-person)
sideshadowing (participle present)
sideshadowed (participle past)
sideshadowed (past)

(literature) To employ references that are not used in the current text.


sharktopus

en-noun

sharktopus (plural sharktopuses or sharktopi)

sharktopuses (plural)
sharktopi (plural)

Blend of shark + octopus, from being a half-shark/half-cephalopod sea monster

(US, fiction) Synonym of lusca; a shark-headed creature with tentacles; a Bahamian folkloric sea monster recast in U.S. pop culture pulp fiction


fujobait

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

From fujo (“a female fan of yaoi or slash fiction”) + bait.

compound

thoughts watching yuri on ice: this is the most incredible fujobait and i am biting down on this bait so fucking hard

2016 October 10, med 👽 AX J9 (@daikonhime), Twitter:

anime companies at their board meetings trying to decide which sport to base their fujobait anime series next [screenshot of the sport selection menu from Wii Sports Resort]

2021 March 26, Chara (@hunipyons), Twitter:

Friendly reminder that in 2019 the Chinese government commissioned a fujobait anime about Karl Marx

2022 January 27, Lindsey (@lindsey_batdorf), Twitter:

(Japanese fiction, fandom slang) An anime, manga, or other piece of media created to appeal to fujoshi.


BuWeaps

BUWEAPS (alternative)
Buweaps (alternative)

(fiction) Abbreviation of bureau of weapons found in fictional military organizations.


Orc

(slang, fiction, derogatory) Alternative form of orc (monstrous warrior in fantasy; Russian soldier)


farcetta

(literature, dated) A short or brief farce.


Africanfuturism

en-noun

Africanfuturism (usually uncountable, plural Africanfuturisms)

Coined by science fiction and fantasy author Nnedi Okorafor in 2019, from African + futurism.

coin

Africanfuturism is similar to “Afrofuturism” in the way that blacks on the continent and in the Black Diaspora are all connected by blood, spirit, history and future. The difference is that Africanfuturism is specifically and more directly rooted in African culture, history, mythology and point-of-view as it then branches into the Black Diaspora, and it does not privilege or center the West.

2019, Nnedi Okorafor, “Africanfuturism Defined”, in Nnedi's Wahala Zone Blog:

Thompson’s Africanfuturism is both queer and decolonial at the same time, necessitating an approach to embodiment that does not look like white, Western performative queerness

2021, Jenna N. Hanchey, “'The self is embodied': Reading queer and trans Africanfuturism in The Wormwood Trilogy”, in Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, volume 14, number 4, →DOI, page 321:

Later this year, the highly anticipated sequel to Black Panther (2018), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, releases. This will likely mark another big surge in wider public excitement and shared fan art depicting elements of Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism.

2022, Alyssa Shotwell, “The Key Differences Between Afrofuturism and Africanfuturism (With Examples!)”, in The Mary Sue:

(Africa, science fiction, neologism) An Afrocentric subgenre of science fiction that foregrounds familial, spiritual and historical connections among Black people, paying particular attention to African culture, history and mythology, and African perspectives, rather than those of the African diaspora in the western world.


planetship

If an interstellar flight belongs in the category of very slow flight, the corresponding starship is converted into a planetship for rapid flights within the solar system.

1959, NASA Technical Translation, page 156:

This was not a spaceship with its stern half broader than the bows and with high stabilizer ribs. Judging by the sharp bows and slim hull it must have been a planetship hut its contours differed in the thick ring at the stern and the long, distaff-shaped structure on top.

2005, Vera Velichko, The Best on the East, volume 3, page 107:

And to cap it all, there's a planetship full of important politicians in orbit around Mars unable to land while this crisis is with us.

2011, John Glasby, Mystery of the Crater, page 87:

The space vehicle came to be understood as an engineered techno-ecology that allowed for short-term excursions, but the actual goal was to build systems that would allow the expected “planetships” to travel into orbit, to the Moon, to Mars, and one day even further out, into the galaxy.

2021, Kärin Nickelsen, David P. D. Munns, Far Beyond the Moon:

(science fiction) A spacecraft for relatively short journeys in the vicinity of a planet.


enviro-suit

(science fiction) a garment covering the whole body which allows the wearer to maintain a separate atmosphere from the surroundings


transstellar

transstellar navigation

(chiefly science fiction) Across or between the stars.


reality warping

(science fiction): The psychic ability to manipulate, control, distort or alter reality


Sitwellism

(literature) The opinions and practices of the Sitwell literary family.


elseworld

From else + world. From being a world that is elsewhere from the regular world. Genericization of the trademark ElseWorlds, created by DC Comics.

parallel dimension
parallel dimension#English

alternate universe
alternate universe#English

(fiction) A fictional setting that is a modification of the common multi-author shared-world setting used in standard stories. A parallel dimension alternate universe setting.


forced justified

(typography) The alignment of all lines of text, regardless of length, where they stretch across from margin to margin.


flush left

(typography) Alignment of the text aligned along the left margin or gutter.


flush right

(typography) Alignment of the text aligned along the right margin or gutter.


flush left and right

(typography) A body of text aligned with both its left and right margins.


constructed script

en-noun

constructed script (plural constructed scripts)

(writing, linguistics) A new writing system specifically created by an individual or group, rather than having evolved as part of a language or culture as a natural script.


spacequake

(science fiction) A tremor in space or spacetime.


bolt thrower

(science fiction) A mechanical crossbow used by Alliance Special Forces infiltration units in Star Wars.


distancing effect

distancing effect (plural distancing effects)

(theater, literature) According to Bertold Brecht, performance in such a way that the audience is hindered from simply identifying itself with the characters in the play, and must evaluate their actions on an overt, conscious level.


Nickneven

(folklore) A hag or evil spirit in Scottish folklore.


Twitterature

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

(Internet slang, literature) Literary use of the microblogging service Twitter, especially in the form of aphorisms, poetry, and fiction.


twiction

Call it flash fiction, nanofiction, twitfic, twiction, or a dozen other names. Though the name might not yet be agreed upon, flash fiction tweets are here to stay. The premise is simple: create a whole story with only 140 characters.

2012 February 1, Ben Mitchell-Lewis, The Best Flash Fiction on Twitter, Hyperink Inc, →ISBN:

Popular contemporary cousins include six-word memoirs, twiction, and the blog-born listicle. Nonliterary ancestors can be traced primarily to mid-century visual artists whose works explore themes of appropriation (e.g., Duchamp,[…]

2018 04, Kim Adrian, The Shell Game: Writers Play with Borrowed Forms, U of Nebraska Press, →ISBN:

The latter has made people remark that “the novel by tweet is really a digital extension of flash fiction, an established literary genre 262 TG 2014 263 Other terms most commonly used include twitterature and twiction; an alternative[…]

2018, Christina Maria Huber, Will Spook You For Real: Strategies of inspiring Societal Anxieties, Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH, →ISBN, page 111:

(Internet slang, literature) Fiction hosted on the microblogging site Twitter; fictional works of Twitterature.


twitfic

twitfic (countable and uncountable, plural twitfics)

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

Steve indulges on occasion with a bit of 140character long fiction but he admits, “I start each of mine with the word 'TWITFIC!' to tell people what I'm doing, so I really get 131.” Some of his TwitFic went like this: “I'm from the[…]

2009 June 29, Tee Morris, All a Twitter: A Personal and Professional Guide to Social Networking with Twitter, Que Publishing, →ISBN:

He's had twitfic published in @tweetthemeat, @thaumatrope, and @outshine, among others. Join his twitfic community at twitfic.com. F.I. Goldhaber F.i. Goldhaber has had short stories, novels, poems, features, essays,[…]

2010 October 15, J. S. Graustein, Rose Auslander, On a Narrow Windowsill: Fiction and Poetry Folded Onto Twitter, Folded Word, →ISBN, page 145:

Meanwhile, The Guardian ran Twitfics from twenty-one heavyweights including Jeffrey Archer, Geoff Dyer, and Ian Rankin. “Blaise Pascal didn't tweet and neither did Mark Twain,” began the story by the UK MIllennium Poet and Iowa Workshop[…]

2013 November 14, David Comfort, An Insider's Guide to Publishing, Penguin, →ISBN:

The first is 'twitfic', mentioned by several TV 2.0 participants. As one might imagine, it is a very abbreviated work of fiction spread over a number of tweets. Anne's response pointed to the limitations of Twitter for such a practice:[…]

2017 March 30, Jean Burgess, Alice Marwick, Thomas Poell, The SAGE Handbook of Social Media, SAGE, →ISBN:

Legend has it that Hemingway won a barbet by composing the first Twitfic on an Algonquin bar napkin: “Classified: Baby Goods. For sale, baby shoes, never worn.” The king of brevity already knew what the Memory & Cognition Journal[…]

TwitFic. Because network access on Windows Phone must be performed asynchronously, it takes quite a bit of code to construct the RESTful Web service request properly. Most of the code, however, is repetitive and thus all of the major[…]

2012 June 10, Henry Lee, Eugene Chuvyrov, Beginning Windows Phone App Development, Apress, →ISBN, page 393:

(Internet slang, literature) Fiction hosted on the microblogging site Twitter; twiction.


flying rowan

(folklore) A rowan tree growing parasitically on another tree, or from a wall, roof, etc., once believed in Scandinavia to have magical powers.


audience surrogate

audience surrogate (plural audience surrogates)

(literature) A character who serves to express the questions and confusion of the audience, such as a detective's assistant who asks for clarification regarding how a case was solved.


oblique type

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

(typography) A form of type that slants slightly to the right.


footstick

The footsticks may be a trifle shorter than the width of two pages and the gutter; for as there should always be a line of quadrats, or a reglet cut to measure, at the foot of each page, the footstick may be a pica shorter without danger, on this account, of any thing falling out, when the form is lifted and it thus prevents the side and foot sticks from binding when locked up.

1841, William Savage, A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, page 330:

Neither the sidestick nor the footstick should project beyond the other, as it will prevent the quoins from passing, and in unlocking will give a great deal of trouble.

1863, H. Morgan, A Dictionary of Terms Used in Printing, page 53:

In using common footsticks and sidesticks, however, the broad part of the sidestick would be at the top left-hand corner of the left side section of the forme, and the broad part of the footstick at the lower right-hand corner.

1884, John Southward, Practical Printing: A Handbook of the Art of Typography, page 138:

(printing, historical) A sloped or beveled piece of wood or metal placed against the foot of a page that is being typeset, and locked in place by quoins.


back gray

(US, printing, textiles, historical) A piece of dark, heavy cotton cloth that is run under another piece of cloth to be printed, serving to take up the color on the roller outside the width of the print cloth.


dummy text

A traditional way to represent dummy text in typeset documents is with a passage of medieval Latin that begins “Lorem ipsum. ..” (or “lipsum” for short).

2006, Christian Crumlish, Kate J. Chase, Microsoft FrontPage 2003: Savvy, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 93:

This means you can easily set up text layouts without having the copy in hand and without resorting to a “dummy text” placeholder.

2010, Olav Martin Kvern, David Blatner, Bob Bringhurst, Real World Adobe InDesign CS5, Pearson Education, →ISBN:

(typography) A placeholder text used in typesetting.


pica stick

(printing, drafting) A type of ruler used to measure by hand the spacing in prints, designs, mock-ups, and proofs.


bookwriting

Our bookwriting services embed the true essence of our words in the right manner.

(Can we date this quote?), “Book Writing Services - Professional Book Writers For hire”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(writing) The process of writing a book.


imaginism

/ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪ(ˌ)nɪzəm/

From Russian имажини́зм (imažinízm), from Latin imāgō (“image, representation”).

(poetry) A Russian avant-garde poetic movement, founded in 1918, whose members created poetry based on sequences of arresting and uncommon images.


single angle quote

single angle quote (plural single angle quotes)

(typography, uncommon) An angle quote which appears as a single symbol at the beginning or end of a sentence.


double angle quote

double angle quote (plural double angle quotes)

(typography, uncommon) An angle quote which appears as two symbols at the beginning or end of a sentence.


power level

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

The figurative senses are a reference to the Japanese franchise Dragon Ball, where many characters have "power levels" indicating how powerful they are.

Miku's power level skyrockets up to 15,000 during the big battle in episode 31.

Nappa: Vegeta, what does the scouter say about his power level? / Vegeta: It's over 9,000!

1997 April 19, Hiroshi Toda, “The Return of Goku”, in Minoru Okazaki, director, Dragon Ball Z, episode 21, (English dubbing of Japanese original):

(fandom slang, especially Japanese fiction) A symbolic and often arbitrary unit of measurement representing strength and fighting ability.


slave of the lamp

slave of the lamp (plural slaves of the lamp)

In the eyes of Gorgias "the word" was a despot who could do anything, but like a slave of the lamp it would be at the service of those who took his courses.

1971, W. K. C. Guthrie, The Sophists, page 25:

(fiction) A genie who is imprisoned in a lamp, as in the tale of Aladdin.


Borduria

Hergé
King Ottokar's Sceptre
Le Temps
Outlook (Indian magazine)

From French Bordurie, from bordure (“border”). Coined by Hergé in 1939 for King Ottokar's Sceptre.

Graustark, Ruritania, Borduria, Syldavia and a score of imaginary kingdoms, usurped by tyrants and sundered by fights for the throne, leap into mind: plots, treachery, imprisoned heirs and palace factions abound and, along with them, fiendish monocled swordsmen, queens in lonely towers, toppling ranges, deep forests, plains full of half-wild horses, wandering tribes of Gypsies who steal children out of castles and dye them...

1977, Patrick Leigh Fermor, A Time of Gifts, 1st edition, New York Review Books, →ISBN, archived from the original on 2022-11-13:

The play will be set in Borduria, the fictional state originally created in Hergé's Tintin that resembles a 1970s eastern European state.

2014 June 19, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, “Decaying east London tower block to house 12-hour Macbeth production”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 2022-05-19:

He made up two fictional countries, Borduria and Syldavia, and the struggles between the two were actually a satire on the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany.

2017 May 22, Utkarsh Srivastava, “A Tintin Mystery: Why Hergé's comics continue to fascinate, 88 years after their debut”, in Firstpost, archived from the original on 2022-01-29:

Hardly any of the cars in the Tintin comics are exotic, while a few of them — like the stretch black limousine driven in a convoy in Tapiocapolis in the final, complete adventure Tintin and the Picaros and the open-topped roadster used to rescue Professor Calculus from the prison fortress of Bakhine in Borduria — are an imaginary combination of real cars.

2022 September 3, Srinivas Krishnan, “The automotive adventures of Tintin”, in Mumbai Mirror, archived from the original on 2022-11-10:

Borduria and Syldavia, both fictional Balkan countries appearing in the Adventures of Tintin graphic novel, also merit a mention as places used to highlight the stereotypes about the southeastern parts of the continent.

2022 November 4, Aleksandar Brezar, “What is Listenbourg? Why is it going viral on Twitter? Why did the meme become so big in Europe?”, in Euronews, archived from the original on 2022-11-07:

The reporter’s future adventures took him far and wide - even to outer space - and to a handful of fictionalised countries including Balkan states Borduria and Syldavia and the South American countries of San Theodoros, São Rico and Nuevo Rico.

2017 7, The Newsroom, “When Tintin the intrepid fictional reporter came to Scotland”, in The Scotsman (Journal), archived from the original on 2022-11-10:

But the name of Grand Fenwick doesn't occur in any history book, or show up in any atlas, unless it also maps Ruritania, Syldavia, Borduria, Oz or even Shangri-La.

2016 September 18, Vikas Datta, “The small nation which beat the superpowers, global capitalism”, in The News Minute, archived from the original on 2022-11-13:

(fiction) An imaginary country located in the Balkans and enemy of Syldavia, in the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin.


Syldavia

From French Syldavie. Blend of Transylvanie + Moldavie. Coined by Hergé in 1939 for King Ottokar's Sceptre.

Tintin and his loyal hound Snowy find themselves trying to thwart a plot by spies to overthrow the king of Syldavia, a fictional Balkan land.

2020 June 25, Lifestyle Desk, “Tintin cover that mocked Hitler’s Germany to go under hammer”, in The Indian Express, archived from the original on 2020-06-26:

(fiction) An imaginary country located in the Balkans and enemy of Borduria, in the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin.


flying car

(aircraft, science fiction, vehicles) A vehicle which can function both as a road vehicle and as an aircraft.


sandgun

If someone deliberately set off the sandgun, I think I'm very possibly what they were aiming for.

Trance was raising his sandgun when the blastwave hit.

2020, Marc Miller, Agent of the Imperium:

The sandgun did burst out, sending the biting cold sand flying in all directions. However, it did not explode from the muzzle of the gun, but from the middle of the spear shaft!

2020, Da Ba, Beauty's Special Magical Doctor:

(science fiction) A weapon that shoots sand or a sandlike substance.


unpied

I then dried these over a flame, and then, wrapping the formes and re-sealing them with my court seals — for my only commission, you see, was to report as to whether the type was unpied, and text ungarbled, and the formes all ready […]

1947, Harry Stephen Keeler, The Case of the Barking Clock:

(letterpress typography) Of metal type: not mixed together or disordered.


roider

From roid (“anabolic steroids”) + -er.
From roid (“asteroid”) + -er.

(science fiction) A person who mines asteroids for a living.


farmer's daughter

farmer's daughter (plural farmers' daughters)

The Midwest farmer's daughters really make you feel alright / And the Northern girls with the way they kiss / They keep their boyfriends warm at night

1965, “California Girls”, in Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), performed by the Beach Boys:

This does not mean that her radical reformulation of the whore persona is entirely absent in this text – it is, for instance, in The Genuine History that Salisbury monopolizes the Prince of Wales and his two aristocratic friends by frankly declaring herself a whore (quote above), while her two colleagues are dismissed because they resort to conventional representations of female ruin, such as milliners and farmer's daughters, which deny or obscure their status as prostitutes.

2015 October 6, Lena Olsson, “5 ‘A first-rate whore’: Prostitution and empowerment in the early eighteenth century”, in Ann Lewis, Markman Ellis, editors, Prostitution and Eighteenth-Century Culture, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN:

(fiction) A stock character or stereotype of a desirable but naïve young woman who is the daughter of a farmer.


archpaladin

/ɑɹt͡ʃˈpælədɪn/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-archpaladin.wav

From arch- + paladin. Originally from the Dungeons & Dragons franchise, in which the fictional deity, Heironeous, is known as The Archpaladin, and the AdventureQuest game.

Foremost in her mind has always been to serve the Archpaladin [Heironeous] and improve the lives of others with His teachings.

2004 August, Rick LaRue, “Greyhawk’s Knights of Holy Shielding: Valor Is Our Blood!”, in Dungeon, number 113, page 94:

Heironeous, The Invincible, The Archpaladin, is the champion of rightful combat and chivalrous deeds.

2007 April, Sean K Reynolds, “Heironeous”, in Dragon, volume XXXI, number 11, issue 354, page 19:

Mostly whiteshirts, from initiate Healers to patrolmen to Electors and ArchPaladins in full battle gear.

2010, Tim Akers, The Horns of Ruin, Amherst, N.Y.: Pyr, →ISBN, page 266:

It's best if you can find a friend or some players to help you out with each quests for Archpaladin.

2019 August 1, SyedXD123, the_beast69, “What Class?”, in reddit.com:

History was wrought romanticised tales of grand crusades lead by heroic Archpaladins of old, spreading God's word to the dark and corrupt corners of the kingdom through their might and zeal.

2021, C. R. Butterworth, The Exile, Liberation (Book 1), C. R. Butterworth:

Things like using Archpaladin to mitigate true damage, or recommending Health Vamp on farming classes that don't benefit from it.

2022 February 18, xiaomole, “Combatting Misinformation”, in reddit.com:

(very rare, science fiction, fantasy, video games) A supreme paladin.


starfall

starfall (countable and uncountable, plural starfalls)

That was just a guess. Man had leaped into space with a new drive, had made starfalls on Procyon, 61 Cygni, Sirius, Altair, all within the fifteen light-year range of the first generation of engines.

1970, John Rackham, Danger from Vega, D. Dodson, →ISBN, pages 35–36:

(science fiction) The act of landing on a star.


superuniverse

(science fiction) A universe containing other universes.


flux capacitor

First seen in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension in 1984 and in the 1985 American science fiction film Back to the Future, directed by Robert Zemeckis, in which a DMC DeLorean vehicle is retrofitted with a flux capacitor to create a time travel device.

Tucked into the corner of the Rinky Dink Flea Market in Marietta is a time machine that transports its visitors to an era before digital music. It doesn’t need a flux capacitor to work, just a plug to power the vintage stereos and turntables that produce the sounds of the thousands of vinyl records sold there.

2019 January 12, Chad Plauche-Adkins, “Playing the classics: Flea market music collection includes thousands of records”, in The Marietta Times:

Is this a glitch? Is the system experiencing an outage? It is a temptation that is best resisted, the urge to talk about this Chelsea team as a piece of fine-point engineering, to style Thomas Tuchel as a pure systems man, poring over his data charts, banging his dials, reconfiguring the flux capacitor with a bent hairpin.

2021 December 4, Barney Ronay, “Thomas Tuchel must gear up for a new phase to reboot glitching Chelsea”, in The Guardian:

(science fiction) A fictional instrument required to operate a time machine, consisting of a rectangular-shaped compartment with three flashing Geissler-style tubes arranged in a "Y" configuration.


cognitohazard

Blend of cognition + hazard, likely coined and popularized by the SCP Foundation wiki.

The symbol on that piece of paper is a cognitohazard which puts everyone who reads it in a week-long coma.

SUMBITCH. I started listening to http://nyan.cat/ again and now I can't turn it off. #memetic #cognitohazard #scp

2011 April 28, @triggurgoat, Twitter, archived from the original on 2023-01-03:

CAUTION! High-grade Cognitohazard in effect!

2011 July 29, @LexLevinholt, Twitter, archived from the original on 2023-01-03:

The one about Qpple hardware being a cognitohazard?
(I made that up, BTW. :D )

2013 February 27, neurotrashboy, “Place name of the week”, in alt.running.out.of.newsgroup.names (Usenet), retrieved 2022-12-09:

SCP-2359’s primary anomalous property is a cognitohazard that propagates to anyone who makes visual, auditory or informational contact with it. The infection impresses a false identity and memories of SCP-2359 onto the mind of the affected subject.

2016 January 29, StringentCurry, “SCP-2359”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2022-12-11:

Numerous people have reported, or, more accurately, been discovered, as having been subjected to the proscribed work The King in Yellow. […] For one thing, we’re not even sure there’s anything useful in the King play. It’s a complete cognitohazard.

2017, Zachary Adam, Sanity Line (Arcane Revolution Series), CreateSpace, →ISBN:

The last week was devoted to an equally theoretical threat—weaponized cognitohazards. Brown notes. Things that you could be hurt, or possibly killed, by just seeing or hearing them… and what would happen if they got on the Internet. How would people protect themselves?

2018, Paul Briggs, Altered Seasons: Monsoonrise, Secant Publishing, →ISBN:

“Says here you’re on the front lines, not search and rescue. Do you have the cognitohazard equipment?”

2020, Azalea Ellis, Gods of Ash and Amber (Seeds of Chaos), Seladore Publishing, →ISBN:

TL;DR: “Infohazard” means any kind of information that could be harmful in some fashion. Let’s use “cognitohazard” to describe information that could specifically harm the person who knows it.

[2020 February 2, eukaryote, “A point of clarification on infohazard terminology”, in LessWrong, archived from the original on 2022-12-11:

Curses! Foiled again by the cognitohazard of Harry Styles’ painted nails!!!!!!

2022 August 26, Ryan Broderick, Garbage Day, retrieved 2023-10-16:

Awawawa is a cognitohazard that spreads specifically among submissive trans people

2022 December 6, @circleoflust, Twitter, archived from the original on 2023-01-03:

(neurology, chiefly science fiction) A sensory signal (such as an image or sound) that directly causes harmful or undesired physiological effects to one who senses or perceives it.


cognitohazardous

en-adj

cognitohazardous (comparative more cognitohazardous, superlative most cognitohazardous)

more cognitohazardous (comparative)
most cognitohazardous (superlative)

Rapidly-flashing lights are cognitohazardous to people with certain forms of epilepsy, resulting in seizures.

Had the unknown girl who'd written those things somehow added to the end of the book without realizing what it was? Or had it acquired cognitohazardous properties after she was already dead?

2014, Matt Dymerski, The Portal in the Forest, Proximate Publishing, →ISBN:

(neurology, chiefly science fiction) Being, containing, or pertaining to a cognitohazard.


wastelander

(science fiction, fantasy) One who inhabits a wasteland.


clickership

(printing, obsolete) An association or companionship of printers.


stand with

en-verb

stand with (third-person singular simple present stands with, present participle standing with, simple past and past participle stood with)

stands with (present singular third-person)
standing with (participle present)
stood with (participle past)
stood with (past)

Another advantage would be found, when a Printing-houſe ſhould happen to be ſold, that the Letter of it would ſtand with another Fount of the ſame Body.

1755, John Smith, The Printer's Grammar, page 35:

(typography, of a character) To align with.


Gothicist

(architecture, literature) One who works in the style of Gothicism.


Centaurian

en-adj

Centaurian (comparative more Centaurian, superlative most Centaurian)

more Centaurian (comparative)
most Centaurian (superlative)

(chiefly science fiction) Pertaining to the constellation Centaurus or its imagined inhabitants.


Centaurian

The Centaurians are remarkable people, but move slowly.

1911, [L. D.] Biagi, The Centaurians: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Publishing Co., […]:

Jack proposed to record a Centaurian’s vocabulary with English equivalents, and the dictawriter, hearing the queer hoots the strange creature uttered, would pick out a card which would then cause a speaker to enunciate its English synonym.

1935 March, Murray Leinster, “Proxima Centauri”, in Astounding Stories, volume XV, number 1, Street & Smith, page 25:

Suppose that in a few years we are visited by a race of benevolent and rational beings from Alpha Centauri that have free will and an advanced culture. […] Suppose further that after they figure out our languages we realize the Centaurians are moral beings who act on reflectively endorsed and rationally appraised principle. We can now ask, “What is of moral value for the Centaurians?”

2010, Adam D. Moore, Privacy Rights: Moral and Legal Foundations, The Pennsylvania State University Press, →ISBN, page 38:

(science fiction) An inhabitant of the constellation Centaurus.


Proxima Centaurian

en-noun

Proxima Centaurian (plural Proxima Centaurians)

The Proxima Centaurians, who are roughly humanoid in shape, are a development of mobile carnivorous plants.

1998, Everett Franklin Bleiler, Richard J[ames] Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years, Kent, Ohio, London: The Kent State University Press, →ISBN, page 248:

In “Rautavaara’s Case,” the alien Proxima Centaurians save the severely damaged human Agneta Rautavaara by using the rest of her irreparable body as a nutrient source to sustain her brain.

2011, G.C. Goddu, “Will You Survive a Trip to Rekall, Inc.?”, in D.E. Wittkower, editor, Philip K. Dick and Philosophy: Do Androids Have Kindred Spirits? (George A. Reisch, editor, Popular Culture and Philosophy, volume 63), Chicago, Ill., LaSalle, Ill.: Open Court Publishing Company, →ISBN, section “Identity Crises”, page 65:

Rather than come here in person, it would be much more sensible for Proxima Centaurians, if they exist, to send an unmanned satellite, the way we have in our exploration of the other planets of the solar system.

2018, William B. Irvine, You: A Natural History, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Proxima Centauri.


Proxima Centaurian

en-adj

Proxima Centaurian (comparative more Proxima Centaurian, superlative most Proxima Centaurian)

more Proxima Centaurian (comparative)
most Proxima Centaurian (superlative)

Science Officer Heath stood out as the only American – specifically, of Proxima Centaurian descent – among the command cadre.

2016, Jamie Sawyer, The Lazarus War; Book Three: Origins, Orbit, →ISBN:

IF I CAN ISOLATE THE DIFFERENCES IN HUMAN BLOOD AND PROXIMA CENTAURIAN…

2021, Jim McCann, Star Trek: Year Five, IDW Publishing:

A member of the Galacterian Alignment, and participants in the Melchizedek Star Seed Program, the Proxima Centaurian race is here to assist Earth in its dualistic proclivity: to spiritually raise, to uplift mentally, to reveal health—all roads that lead to true happiness.

2021, Craig Campobasso, The Extraterrestrial Species Almanac: The Ultimate Guide to Greys, Reptilians, Hybrids, and Nordics, Weiser Books, →ISBN, page 109:

(science fiction, rare) Of or relating to Proxima Centauri.


medbed

On either side of the medbed I was in, and on the other side of the long, narrow room, other medbeds stretched in long rows. I couldn't make them out well, though, and I remembered they had added distortion fields to medbeds to give patients privacy.

That might work. Call the Aurorae and have a medbed waiting in your prep room. If we can offload them on medbeds, we can load them the same way.

2013, Maggi O'Mally, Aurorae II, page 161:

She was lying on a medbed and only clad in her black jumpsuit. Her armor, helmet and pack were gone.

2014, Rhiannon Frater, The Last Mission of the Living:

Dante snapped his fingers and Damon appeared with a medbed. "As you can see he is the patient."

2020, Serena Simpson, Keriann McKenna, Mick:

(science fiction) A bed equipped with technology for medical diagnosis and treatment.


terranaut

From Latin terra (“dry land; soil; Earth”) + -naut.

af

The first terranaut was pulled into view, wearing the characteristic black uniform of his kind. His head lolled back, his mask had been ripped away, but he was fighting bravely to retain consciousness.

1967, Brian W. Aldiss, “The Night That All Time Broke Out”, in Harlan Ellison, editor, Dangerous Visions, New York: Doubleday & Company, page 166:

By now, the interior of the vessel was entirely weightless. The ship had sunk to a depth of 6,800 kilometers – the planet's deepest point. The last remaining terranaut aboard the Sunset 6 had become the first person to reach the Earth's core.

2013, Cixin Liu, The Wandering Earth, London: Head of Zeus, published 2017, →ISBN, page unknown:

(chiefly science fiction) Someone who explores some part of the Earth.


paragraph break

en-noun

paragraph break (plural paragraph breaks)

(writing systems, orthography) A place within written content representing a semantic departure where one paragraph ends and another begins; usually represented visually with at least a line break and often also with additional vertical spacing or a subsequent indent.

(word processing, typography) A place within written content where such an orthographic break occurs; in computing, it is encoded with a hard return, which is sometimes represented visually with a pilcrow character (¶).


with privilege

Calque of Latin cum privilegio (“with legal permission, with legal authority”).

der

(printing) used to indicate a book has been legally published or is entitled to special privileges, e.g., due to a royal monopoly

cum privilegio

colophon announcement of a book's legal permission or monopoly


skyland

She then went to Miss Green’s house who, when she heard the sound of the six pipe flute, expected to see her husband return from the skyland. She opened the door. Instead, it was the tiger demon who touched the hem of her skirt causing her to fall down in a dead faint.

1967, Collected Papers in Highway Salvage Archaeology, 1972-74, Department of Anthropology, University of Montana, →ISBN, page 55:

Tearing his eyes from the skylands, he called, “You warned me that Blood was going to catch me, back there in the city while you were renting these donkeys for us. What do you think he’ll do to me if he does?”

1993, Gene Wolfe, Nightside the Long Sun (The Book of the Long Sun), Tor Books, →ISBN:

First he has to find the place, and as the sleeve of night brings darkness to his city of Viron, light to the skylands above, he sets out on his quest.

2016, Michael Andre-Driussi, Gene Wolfe: 14 Articles on His Fiction, Sirius Fiction, →ISBN, page 128:

They passed a number of islands as well as a few low lying skylands, all heavy with vegetation and life.

2021, L.T. Junzon, Descendants of the Lost: Tales of the Seeker, MJ Publishing, →ISBN:

The military intelligence confidently surmises that their ethnic origin is either from the skylands in the clouds of Jupiter or from Uranus.

2022, Yoda Oraiah, Cosmism: A New Hope for Humanity, FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 198:

But that day in the skylands of Skod, the day of deliverance, I never set out to do anything like what I’m given credit for.

2022 August, Rick Remender, Seven to Eternity, deluxe edition, Image Comics, Inc.:

(science fiction) A land above the sky, such as a floating city or another planet.


dyeline

(printing) A system of printing using diazo dyes.


documentarism

(literature) The study of the writing or sourcing of texts.


salesrobot

(science fiction, rare) A robotic salesperson.


monstership

Does your Monstership desire more smelly socks?


aerocar

(science fiction) A flying car; a flying machine which looks and functions similarly to modern cars, often described as using antigravity technology.


Aldebaranian

(science fiction) Relating to the Aldebaran system or to Aldebaranians.


Aldebaranian

(science fiction) An inhabitant of the Aldebaran system.


Aldebaranian

(science fiction, rare) The language spoken by Aldebaranians.


aerocab

From aero- + cab under the influence of aeroplane. Compare aircab and airplane.

(science fiction) Synonym of aircab (“a flying taxicab”).


aircab

From air + cab under the influence of airplane. Compare earlier aerocab and aeroplane.


armorplast

From armor + -plast (“a small body, structure”).

suffix

(science fiction) A fictional material, often described as being strong, flexible, and transparent.


autodoc

(science fiction) A system or robot which provides automatic medical care.


asterite

asterites (plural)
Asterite (alternative)

(science fiction, demonym) An inhabitant of an asteroid.


Asterite

(science fiction, demonym) Alternative letter-case form of asterite.


astroengineer

astroengineers (plural)
astro-engineer (alternative)

(science fiction) An engineer who designs or operates spacecraft or space stations.


braintape

braintapes (plural)
brain-tape (alternative)

From brain + tape (“any video or audio recording”).

compound

(science fiction) A complete record of the contents of someone's brain.


Chicon

(science fiction fandom slang) A name given to various science fiction conventions held in Chicago, United States.


combozine

(science fiction fandom slang) A combination of zines bound or distributed together.


cityship

cityships (plural)
city-ship (alternative)

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

(science fiction) A spacecraft which contains an entire city.


Class M

Originally from the TV series Star Trek.

(science fiction) Of a planet: having characteristics similar to that of Earth.


collapsium

From collapse + -ium. Probably alluding to black holes, which are extremely dense objects formed by collapsing matter in the core of a dying star.

(science fiction) A fictional material usually described as having an extremely high density.


-con

(science fiction fandom slang) Used to form the names of conventions.


-con

Modeled after lolicon; ultimately from clipping of complex (“abnormal mental condition”).

clip

(chiefly anime and manga) Forming terms for abnormal sexual attractions.


countergrav

(science fiction, rare) Clipping of countergravity.


coreward

en-adj

coreward (comparative more coreward, superlative most coreward)

more coreward (comparative)
most coreward (superlative)

(science fiction) Close to or travelling towards the galactic core.


coreward

The first colonisation efforts went coreward from the Blue Planetary Nebula with worlds like Sirona Prime, Xalau III and Usinnia being discovered and settled.

2018, James E Taris, The Venality Effect: Two Clients, Xlibris, →ISBN:

(science fiction) Towards the galactic core.


cyborged

Cyborged servitors – mind-wiped snail-men – constantly cruised the black marble floor of his long, barrel-vaulted chamber, cleansing and laying down trails of scewnted polish behind them.

1994, Ian Watson, Harlequin, Boxtree, →ISBN, page 9:

(science fiction) Having been made into a cyborg.


cyborgized

She is almost totally cyborgized except for a small number of human brain cells. Her apparently female body is a mere shell to encase a cybernetic entity.

2011, Donna Spalding Andréolle, Veronique Molinari, Women and Science, 17th Century to Present: Pioneers, Activists and Protagonists, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, page 233:


different story

en-noun

different story (plural different stories)

(science fiction fandom slang, dated) Any story featuring elements of science fiction or fantasy (as opposed to typical stories which are set in the real world).


impossible story

impossible story (plural impossible stories)


cyborgization

(science fiction) The act of converting something into a cyborg.


Earthish

en-adj

Earthish (comparative more Earthish, superlative most Earthish)

more Earthish (comparative)
most Earthish (superlative)

(science fiction) Relating to or originating from the Earth.


Earthish

(science fiction) A hypothetical universal language of Earth.


Earthfolk

(science fiction) People from planet Earth.


Earth normal

atmospheric pressure
atmospheric pressure

(science fiction) The standard conditions (especially of gravity and atmospheric pressure) found on Earth.


Earth-normal

Earth-normal (comparative more Earth-normal, superlative most Earth-normal)

more Earth-normal (comparative)
most Earth-normal (superlative)

(science fiction) Of a condition, similar to that found on Earth (especially describing gravity or atmospheric pressure).


eetee

A pronunciation spelling of ET (“extraterrestrial”).

(science fiction) An extraterrestrial being; an alien.


empathist

empathists (plural)
Empathist (alternative)

extrasensory perception
extrasensory perception

(science fiction) Someone able to sense the emotions of others through extrasensory perception; an empath.


Earthsider

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Earth.


Earthside

(science fiction) The planet Earth or (synecdochically) a group or organization based on Earth.


gyrobus

The gyrobus touched down on the commercial side of the spaceport, not far from a row of hangars where several shuttles were parked.

2007 December, Allen Steele, “Galaxy Blues”, in Asimov's Science Fiction, volume 31, number 12, →ISSN, page 102:


kiloday

(science fiction, rare) A period of one thousand days.


Martianess

Coordinate term: Martian

(science fiction, rare) A female Martian.


otherspace

(science fiction) A type of space with different physical laws than ordinary space, often permitting faster-than-light travel.


Schwabacher

(typography) A style of black letter typeface that evolved from Gothic Textualis (Textura) under the influence of Humanist type design in Italy during the 15th century.


sheetwise

(printing, historical) Printed one side of a sheet at a time, with the form replaced on the press between sides.


Truck-kun

What if I was walking across the street when I was summoned, only to be dropped back in front of a speeding truck. Lots of dodgy stories start with Truck-kun, and I don't want mine to end with it.

2022, Dean Henegar, “The Summoned Life”, in Legendary LitRPG: An All Genres LitRPG Anthology, unnumbered page:

While Truck-kun does cause one form of ending—the character is dead in their original world—it's an integral part of the main character's transportation to a new world, one where they can explore, learn, and grow.

2022, Natasha Yglesias, Anime Tarot Deck and Guidebook: Explore the Archetypes, Symbolism, and Magic in Anime, page 29:

So I figure I might as well chuck a "Truck-kun" into my own story too! Gotta get in while the getting's good!!

2023, Shizuki Fujisawa, translated by Cerridwyn Graffham, The Transcendent One-Sided Love of Yoshida the Catch, volume 3, unnumbered page:

(chiefly Japanese fiction, fandom slang, humorous) In the isekai genre, a truck that sets off the plot by hitting the protagonist, transporting them into the fantastical setting (typically by killing them in the real world).


Ascapart

Ascupart (alternative)
Ascapard (alternative)
Ascopard (alternative)
Ascopart (alternative)
Asgapard (alternative)

(European folklore) A legendary giant in English folklore.


gallitrap

(folklore, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset) Grass growing in a circle that possesses the magical power of compelling anyone standing within it to confess their wrongdoings.

(folklore, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset) A magical circle of grass believed to have been created by pixies, that causes any mortal stepping into it to believe they are continuing to walk forward when they are actually walking in a circle.


Lilliput

John Hardesty Bland (1971) Forests of Lilliput The Realm of Mosses and Lichens: “(book title)”

(fiction) An imaginary island populated by tiny people, in the book Gulliver's Travels.


queercoded

queercoded (comparative more queercoded, superlative most queercoded)

more queercoded (comparative)
most queercoded (superlative)

(fiction, slang) Portrayed in a way that suggests or implies LGBTQ+ identities or characteristics, without explicitly stating so; Hinting that something (a character, a relationship, a situation) is LGBTQ+.


tamanoas

(folklore) Magical power, in the Chinook culture.


element zero

From being a chemical element with zero protons.

(informal, nuclear physics, science fiction) Synonym of neutronium (“material composed of neutrons”).

(science fiction) A fictional chemical element with element number/atomic number/proton number zero (0), often with unrealistic properties.


thionite

From thio- (“containing sulphur”) + -n- + -ite. Coined by American author E. E. Smith in 1937.

coinage

(science fiction) A fictional addictive drug said to induce euphoric dreams.


time barrier

(science fiction) A barrier or obstacle preventing time travel, especially one resulting from technological limitations.


time-binding

Coined by Polish-American philosopher Alfred Korzybski in 1921.

time binding (alternative)
timebinding (alternative)

(especially general semantics, science fiction) The act of transmitting knowledge and experience from one moment and person to other moments and people using written information (e.g., written language, images, symbols), whether in mundane instances or (especially) from one generation to the next.


time-binding

(general semantics, science fiction) Engaging in time-binding.


time police

(science fiction) An organization which regulates time travel, especially with the purpose of preventing the past from being changed.


time cop

(science fiction) A member of the time police.


time crime

en-noun

time crime (countable and uncountable, plural time crimes)

(science fiction) The violation of time travel law (especially referring to an attempt to change the past).


seetee

Spelling out of CT, initialism of contraterrene. Coined by American science fiction author Jack Williamson in 1942.

coined

He followed her slowly into the empty hallway, announcing flatly, “I never made a seetee weapon. I don’t intend to start now.”

1949, Jack Williamson, “Seetee Shock”, in Astounding Science-Fiction, volume 42, number 4, page 149:

He gritted his teeth as another bolt of seetee matter exploded against the energy screen.

1960, John Glasby, Black Abyss, e-book edition, published 2014, →ISBN:

She inferred what happened: the atmosphere of Yuggoth was composed of SeeTee matter. ¶ SeeTee. CT. ContraTerrene. Antimatter.

2010, Richard A. Lupoff, “Nothing Personal”, in Darrell Schweitzer, editor, Cthulhu’s Reign, →ISBN:

(science fiction) Synonym of contraterrene (“made of or pertaining to antimatter”).


Titanese

(science fiction) Relating to Titan (the largest moon of Saturn) or to its inhabitants.


Titanese

(science fiction) The language spoken on Titan.


torch drive

(science fiction) A spacecraft engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion.


torchship

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

Compound of torch (“a torch drive”) + ship.

com+

(science fiction) A spacecraft propelled by a torch drive (“spacecraft engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion”).


subbullet

Type the following subbullets. Press ENTER after each of the first two lines.

1996, Lynn Marie Bacon, Wiley Getting Started with Powerpoint 7.0 for Windows 95, page 78:

(typography) A bullet that is hierarchically nested under another bullet.


majokko

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 魔女っ子 (majokko), composed of 魔女 (“witch”) + っ子 (“person having a certain quality”, also diminutive suffix).
This term is sometimes also glossed in English as “little witch”, the word 子 (ko) meaning “child” or “small”.

affix

The viewer is normally treated to the transformation from the point of view of the majokko herself - the other people around her basically would see a "flash of light" and (poof!) she's changed.

1999 July 13, Animeg3282, “The magical girl thread”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):


photoblocker

(biochemistry, lithography) A substance that stops light.


compound point

(typography) An obsolete typographical construction made up of more than one punctuation mark, such as the comma dash (,—) or semicolon dash (;—).


Monk's Tale stanza

en-noun

Monk's Tale stanza (plural Monk's Tale stanzas)

As used in The Monk's Tale, one of the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

(poetry) An eight-line stanza with the rhyme scheme ABABBCBC.


shriker

(folklore) Synonym of shuck (“supernatural black dog”).


Milesian tale

(literature) A genre of fictional story prominent in ancient Greek and Roman literature: a short story, fable, or folk tale featuring love and adventure, usually of an erotic or titillating nature.


heptasyllable

(poetry) line of verse with seven syllables


enneasyllable

(poetry) line of verse with nine syllables


homeworlder

(science fiction) An inhabitant of the homeworld.


majestrix

(fiction) A title granted to a female ruler.


star base

From star + base, denoting a base (such as a military base or a base camp) among the stars.

(science fiction) Alternative form of starbase.


fanarchist

During the 1950s Dave was active in the Fanarchist crowd—those largely New York fans who avoided both fannish and mundane politics on the grounds that fanning should be fun.

1975 February, John Boardman, “In Memoriam: David Mason”, in Science Fiction Review, volume 4, number 1, page 13:

(science fiction fandom slang) A fan who rejects organized fandom, often as being motivated by anarchist thought.


fanarchistic

en-adj

fanarchistic (comparative more fanarchistic, superlative most fanarchistic)

more fanarchistic (comparative)
most fanarchistic (superlative)

From fanarchist (“a fan who rejects organized fandom, often as being motivated by anarchist thought”) + -ic.

suf

I am particularly struck with your underlying attitude that all these projects must be sponsored by the NFFF or some similar organization in order to be successful. Now I realise that my own personal fanarchistic attitude may perhaps be coloring my views, but I honestly cannot see the utility of the NFFF in such a connection.

1944, F. T. Laney, Fan-Dango, volume 2, number 3, page 9:

(science fiction fandom slang) Characteristic of a fanarchist; rejecting organized fandom.


fankind

From fan + -kind, possible punning on mankind.

As most of you are, I'm sure, award, Harry [Broertjes] and his LEGION OUTPOST are well known throughout fankind.

(science fiction fandom slang) Fans collectively.


gyrocab

From gyro- + cab under the influence of autogyro etc.

They were not there waiting for her, after all. She came upon them getting out of a gyrocab just as she emerged from the tubes a on to street level. The gyrocabbie, wide-eyed, gazed after his fares for a moment, then hovered upward and away.

1951, Isaac Asimov, “Hostess”, in Nightfall and Other Stories, Green City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., published 1969, page 76:

(science fiction) Synonym of aircab, a flying taxi, particularly a helicab or autogyro taxi.


glassite

One of those cyclopean cylinders could, conceivably, miss the guiding beam and crash half a mile from its expected landing point—through the glassite roof of the immense waiting room perhaps—so that only a thin organic vapor and some powdered phosphates would be left behind to mark the passing of a thousand men.

1953, Isaac Asimov, Second Foundation, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, page 135:

(science fiction) A fictional material, typically described as being transparent like glass.


gravitied

heavily-gravitied

non-gravitied

(in compounds) Having a specified type or strength of gravity.

It was designed to be accessible while in a gravitied environment, thankfully, even if far too many of the other amenities on board this class of ship were dependent on a lack of gravity to easily access.

2016, Jean Johnson, Blockade: First Salik War, New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 95:


gravitics

I scan the Imperial Journal of Physics and the Borshallan Physics Review every day. Nobody's doing comparable work. They're all concerned with gravitics and field dynamics.

2014 October, Don Sakers, Children of the Eighth Day, Linthicum, M.D.: Speed-of-C Productions, →ISBN, page 186:

The fictional science of studying and controlling gravity.

I'll adjust the computer to our assigned radio beam and it can use the gravitics to mimic conventional flight.

1982, Isaac Asimov, Foundation's Edge, London, […]: Grafton Books, →ISBN, page 213:

Devices able to control gravity or gravitational waves, considered collectively.


groundcar

This had footpaths worn into it alongside the buildings, while its centre had been tiled level with slabs of hard white ceramic to carry the few groundcars here.

2015, Neal Asher, Dark Intelligence, London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 368:

(science fiction) A car unable to fly (as opposed to a flying car).


helicab

From heli- + cab under the influence of helicopter. Compare earlier aerocab and aeroplane, aircab and airplane, etc.

She'd insisted on creeping out of a back exit and we took three different helicabs.

1999, Phyllis Gotlieb, Violent Stars, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 182:

(science fiction) A helicopter used as a taxicab.


groundlubber

So might I ask just what exactly groundlubbers like you are doing in the Roofdom?

2007, China Miéville, Un Lun Dun, London: Macmillan Children's Books, →ISBN, page 86:

(science fiction, derogatory) Someone who does not regularly travel to space.


holocam

He kept up his cheerful demeanor. It wouldn't do for any of the holocams to see him looking irritable, for any recordings of such a response would appear on the news broadcasts.

2009 April 12, Aaron Allston, Outcast, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 27:

(science fiction) A device capable of capturing three-dimensional images in the form of a hologram.


groundside

Even then she gave them quite a battle. It was like a pair of minnows landing a four-foot bass, but they hauled her down and booted her groundside with a skill that eventually got the two pilots a citation.

1951 November, Paul W[arren] Fairman, “Proud Asteroid”, in Amazing Stories, volume 25, number 11, page 46:

(science fiction) Towards or on the surface of a planet.


hubward

en-adv

hubward (comparative more hubward, superlative most hubward)

more hubward (comparative)
most hubward (superlative)

From hub (“the central part of a wheel”) + -ward.

suf

At 1700 station time, he headed hubward to where Captain Arran Syke, formerly captain of Mother Ramona's private guard, now head of Crossways Militia, had his office.

2017 October, Jacey Bedford, Nimbus: A Psi-Tech Novel, New York: DAW Books, →ISBN, page 55:

(science fiction) Towards the center (of a rotating spaceship or space station).


Didot

(typography, historical) Ellipsis of Didot point.


visiscreen

An image of Abby appeared on visiscreens at the front of the room.

2010, David Gregory, The Last Christian, Waterville, M.E.: Thorndike Press, →ISBN, page 611:

(science fiction) An electronic screen capable of displaying images or data.


viewplate

Then the skeleton flitter moved to the left—out into the glare of the early day, a light too bright, even through the shielded viewplates of his helmet.

1956, Andrew North [pseudonym; Andre Norton], Plague Ship, New York, N.Y.: Gnome Press, page 146:

(science fiction, now rare) An electronic screen capable of displaying images or data.


visiplate

The glare of a searchlight splashed against his visiplates. Simultaneously, the ship jumped like some toy that had been struck an intolerable blow.

1940, A[lfred] E[lton] van Vogt, Slan, Garden City, N.Y.: Nelson Doubleday, Inc., published 1946, page 101:


visiphone

During the late 21st century, the wide-spread use of portable voice-activated interactive computers and visiphones brought communications to their zenith.

2010, Eileen Siedman, The Faithful: 23rd Century Morality: A Mystery Novel, Bloomington, I.N.: Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 25:

(science fiction, dated) A telephone capable of making video calls.


visiphone

en-verb

visiphone (third-person singular simple present visiphones, present participle visiphoning, simple past and past participle visiphoned)

visiphones (present singular third-person)
visiphoning (participle present)
visiphoned (participle past)
visiphoned (past)

"Plum, try viziphoning them." / Plum pushed a key and said, "CQ, this is the starship Shillelagh of the Asteroid Federation, calling CQ."

1987, Thomas R. McDonough, The Architects of Hyperspace, New York, N.Y.: Avon, →ISBN:

(science fiction, dated) To call someone using a visiphone.


ultrawave

There were short intervals between the reports, for ultrawaves, though traveling at the speed of light, still needed some time to span the tremendous distance.

1969, K[arl] H[erbert] Scheer, Walter Ernsting, translated by Wendayne Ackerman, Enterprise Stardust, London: Severn House, published 1977, →ISBN, page 28:

A type of radiation, often described as allowing for faster-than-light communication.

Of course, the radio signals came through on the ultrawave every so often, but the pep-talk description of the thrilling contest for endurance racing didn't mean much when I put it up against the facts.

1975, Lester del Rey, “Habit”, in Early Del Rey, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 41:

A device capable of receiving or producing ultrawaves.


transhumanity

From transhuman + -ity or trans- + humanity.

It was a way, Sean, of interrogating our very humanity—and our transhumanity; a way of enquiring what we might change into. That's the only possible true deep reason for colonization.

1980, Ian Watson, The Gardens of Delight, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, →ISBN, page 163:

You don't need me to safeguard the future of Carter-Zimmerman on your behalf. Or the future of transhumanity. You can do it in person.

1995, Greg Egan, “Wang's Carpets”, in Greg Bear, editor, New Legends, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 361:


spacehound

"I'll be very glad to show you around," he said, "but I must confess I was a little surprised when Rupert passed on your request. I couldn't understand why one of you spacehounds should be interested in our work. Aren't you going in the wrong direction?"

1953, Arthur C[harles] Clarke, Childhood's End, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., →OCLC, page 116:

(science fiction, now rare) A person experienced in space travel.


spacewrecked

To relieve the solitude of the spacewrecked crew, they decide to send presents, which they wrapped in layers of paper that would burn up in the atmosphere, leaving the contents intact.

2000, Giovanni Caprara, translated by David Climie, Living in Space: From Science Fiction to the International Space Station, Toronto, O.N., Buffalo, N.Y.: Firefly Books, →ISBN, page 11:

(science fiction) Having been wrecked in space.


spacegram

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

From space + -gram (“something written, drawn or otherwise recorded”).

suf

Several times during their work and breaks to eat, Versha had received spacegrams or messages through the comcaller.

2006, Andre Norton, Lyn McConchie, Beast Master's Quest, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 65:

(science fiction) A short written message physically sent through space.


spacegram

en-verb

spacegram (third-person singular simple present spacegrams, present participle spacegramming, simple past and past participle spacegrammed)

spacegrams (present singular third-person)
spacegramming (participle present)
spacegrammed (participle past)
spacegrammed (past)

"We'll spacegram the specifications as soon as this call is finished," said Jerry. "How soon can we have a shipment?"

1952 March, Kendell Foster Crossen, “Things of Distinction”, in Startling Stories, volume 25, number 2, page 115:

(transitive, intransitive, science fiction) To send by spacegram.


starfleet

starfleets (plural)
star fleet (alternative)

I couldn't sense net-based operations behind the doors, but if the records were correct, Ell Control had once been the central operations focus for the starfleets of the Rebuilt Hegemony, and had hummed with activity.

1996, L[eland] E[xton] Modesitt Jr., Adiamante, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 63:


starway

I slept peacefully that night, dreaming of cruising the starways with Andrea. The next morning, I awoke feeling reinvigorated, revitalised, and many years younger.

2015, Frank George, Time's Well: A Chronicle in Three Parts, Bloomington, I.N.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 23:

(science fiction) A route or pathway between stars.


starfarer

In many ways, it was lucky for starfarers that the same basic DNA code and biochemistry had been found on placets all over the known galaxy, for it meant that habitable environments and edible foods were easy to find.

2017, Christopher L. Bennett, Patterns of Interference, New York, N.Y. […]: Pocket Books, →ISBN, pages 150–151:

(science fiction) Someone who travels between stars.


spaceboat

Compound of space + boat, modelled after spaceship.

Twelve robot spaceboats emerged from the midst of the retreating armada and streaked toward the glowing bubble, which was expanding more rapidly.

1996, Julian May, Magnificat, London: Pan Books, published 1997, →ISBN, page 551:


saucerman

To convince Sam Arkoff to put House of Usher — a film devoid of atomic mutants, bug-eyed saucermen, werewolves, vampires and other poster-friendly manifestations of the fifties' sci-fi boom — into production, Roger Corman had famously informed the joint head of American International that the house was the monster.

2003, Denis Meikle, Vincent Price: The Art of Fear, London: Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, →ISBN, page 76:

(science fiction) Someone who travels in a flying saucer.


shapechange

shapechange (third-person singular simple present shapechanges, present participle shapechanging, simple past and past participle shapechanged)

shapechanges (present singular third-person)
shapechanging (participle present)
shapechanged (participle past)
shapechanged (past)

He clapped the big man on the shoulder and quickly left. In the shadows of the bridge he shapechanged and headed for Greenvale.

2004, Keri Arthur, Generation 18, London: Piatkus, published 2009, →ISBN, page 161:

(science fiction, fantasy) To shapeshift.


shapechange

I watched Michael's face and asked, "Why was he there then? I'd have put down money that it was a demon, but it was just a shapechange. There was a mortal inside it. Who was he?"

2003, Jim Butcher, Death Masks, New York, N.Y.: Roc Books, →ISBN, page 78:

(science fiction, fantasy) An instance of shapechanging.


spindizzy

From spin + dizzy. The science fiction sense was coined by American author James Blish in 1950 for the Cities in Flight series of books (published 1950–1962).

coinage

So the twin scientific themes of the first book are the development of antigravity technology called spindizzies that enable whole cities to lift into space, and the production of "anti-agathic" drugs that can extend life indefinitely, necessary for the immense journey times in interstellar space.

[2014, Brian Clegg, Final Frontier: The Pioneering Science and Technology of Exploring the Universe, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 26:

(science fiction) An anti-gravity propulsion system capable of faster-than-light travel, powered by the hypothetical Blackett effect.


redemptive arc

A grim social-realist drama from New Zealand that labors to twist its narrative into a redemptive arc, “The Justice of Bunny King” has an unsteady tone to match its ungainly title.

2022 September 29, Ben Kenigsberg, “‘The Justice of Bunny King’ Review: No Way Out”, in The New York Times:

(literature) Synonym of redemption arc (“story arc wherein an immoral character redeems themselves and makes right for their wrongdoings”).


NYP

(publishing) Initialism of not yet published.


robotrix

The black man paced about across the oil-streaked cement, his arms folded, an absent expression on his face. Evidently he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.

1974, Philip K[indred] Dick, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, New York, N.Y.: DAW Books, Inc., published 1975, page 198:

The decor was different in every bar — there were chrome-plated Metropolis joints with dancing robotrixes, and sawdust-on-the-floor Western saloons with gunfights and can-can girls — but the faces were the same.

1989, Kim Newman, The Night Mayor, London […]: Pocket Books, published 1999, →ISBN, page 132:

(science fiction) A female robot, or one with feminine characteristics.


rimworld

The traffic chief shook his head. "You're making a mistake. You should stay up in the rimworlds where the Orchestra is loved. Downsystem you're nothing."

1985, Kim Stanley Robinson, The Memory of Whiteness: A Scientific Romance, New York, N.Y.: Tor, →ISBN, page 91:

(science fiction) A planet located near the edge or rim of a galaxy.


rocketport

This time, he knew for whom he was asking: they waited—as they've always waited, at rocketports, pneumatique stations, in delousing sheds and hand-out queues; in the greasy front offices of courts and refugee camps and detention bureaus—tired and grimy and stoned.

1974, M[ichael] John Harrison, The Centauri Device, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 178:


planetman

Compound of planet + man, modelled after countryman.

One does not disturb a dreamer. It would be dangerous for both your planetman and the dreamer herself.

1976, Andre Norton, “Get Out of My Dream”, in Perilous Dreams, New York, N.Y.: DAW Books, Inc., page 130:

(science fiction, now rare) Someone from one's own planet.


jumpspace

The Fergus entered jumpspace, but never emerged. The Scandyans were kind enough to let us check their records, and they show a clean drop.

2003, L[eland] E[xton] Modesitt Jr., The Ethos Effect, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 176:


jumpship

Ben stared at the hologram. "The megacorps don't have quite the monopoly on fast transit that they think they have," he said. "But it would certainly help if we had a few more jumpships. That would solve a lot of transit problems."

2015, Jacey Bedford, Crossways, New York, N.Y.: DAW Books, Inc., →ISBN, page 59:

(science fiction) A spaceship able to instantaneously move large distances through space by traveling through hyperspace or jumpspace.


lifeship

You target our habs and lifeships, you slaughter us in our millions. We attack your military and infrastructure. And you call us the terrorists.

2004, Iain M. Banks, The Algebraist, London: Orbit, →ISBN, page 459:

(science fiction) A spaceship serving as an emergency medical center.


Lunite

"Our situation," Lamar remarked, "is similar to that which a Lunite might have encountered had he visited New England in 1690. Any wretch who claimed ancestry among the people of the moon in those days, would have been convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake without mercy."

1933 February, Julian Kendig, Jr., “The Eternal Mask”, in Amazing Stories, volume 7, number 11, page 1036, column 2:

(science fiction, now rare) Synonym of Lunarian (“inhabitant of the Moon”).


Lunarite

From Lunar (“pertaining to Luna”) + -ite.

Although his achievements were not numerous, he was able to hammer out a successful trade agreement with the Moon. The Lunarites were certainly pleased that their rich mining resources, needed by the Earth, were traded practically straight across for the air and water which they so desperately needed.

1993, Linda Hall, The Josiah Files, Nashville, T.N.: Thomas Nelson Publishers, →ISBN, page 132:

(science fiction) Synonym of Lunarian (“inhabitant of the Moon”).


moonman

In this manner did I discourse with the Moonmen while taking my repast; after which they told me, if I had no objection, that they intended taking me to Moontown, to introduce me to their king […]

1863, William George Caldcleugh, “Story of Chico Capaac, or the Man in the Moon (the Story of the Moonmen)”, in Eastern Tales, James Challen and Son, retrieved 2023-05-10, page 230:

On the floor the Moonman's body shivered again.

1954, Catherine Lucile Moore, Northwest of Earth, Gnome Press, retrieved 2023-05-10, page 54:

As the first moonmen worked to set up their rudimentary base, supply ships would have to be sent periodically with additional provisions for more permanent materials for the eventual large lunar base. Meanwhile, the moonmen would continue to live in their pressurized domes. As supplies accumulated, construction of the permanent base would begin.

1958 March 7, William Leavitt, “Man in space”, in Air Force Magazine, retrieved 2023-05-10, page 122:

en:member of a nation of fictional moon dwellers

(science fiction, dated) Synonym of Lunarian (“inhabitant of the Moon”).


jonbar hinge

A reference to the 1938 novel The Legion of Time, in which the character John Barr having the choice of picking up of one of two objects (a magnet or a pebble) marks a major turning point in history: one will lead to the utopian empire of Jonbar (named after John Barr himself), while the other leads to the rise of the tyrannical state of Gyronchi. Further etymology at John, Barr.

(science fiction) In time travel stories: a seemingly trivial event which ultimately marks the point of divergence between two radically different timelines.


mindlink

"No," Bean replied. "More likely, the Minkowski Line would learn how to create more efficient mindlinks than the one that the Martians developed without access to advanced technology. But that would be enough."

2009 July, Lawrence Barker, Blood Red Sphere, Arlington, Tex.: Swimming Kangaroo Books, →ISBN, page 231:

(science fiction) A telepathic link or connection between separate minds.


Luna City

From Luna (“the name of Earth's moon”) + city.

(science fiction) The name of a major colony or city on the Moon in various science fiction works.


threedy

From the pronunciation of 3D (“three-dimensional”).

"Nothing else. We don’t know anything... at all... about what brings St. Andrews into this. But she knows too much, Benny. Lots and lots of stuff that didn't appear—and never will appear—in the newspapes, or on the threedies."

1994 February, Earthsong: Native Tongue III, New York, N.Y.: DAW Books, Inc., →ISBN, page 176:

(science fiction) A three-dimensional movie or television program.


ultraphone

ultraphones (plural)
ultrophone (alternative)

Amalfi wondered if the Hruntans understood English; not that he was worried about the present interchange being overheard—the giant planet would block that most effectively, since the Utopians used ordinary radio rather than ultraphones or Dirac communicators—but it was of the utmost importance, if Hazleton's scheme was to be made workable, that the Hruntans should have heard and understood the warning the Earth police had issued to the city.

1955, James Blish, Earthman, Come Home (Cities in Flight; 1), New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, published 1958, page 29:

(science fiction) A telephone capable of transmitting communications faster than the speed of light.


ultradrive

Politically, the assistance Marius provided was subtle and invaluable, allowing Ethan to build alliances within the Council and among the Clerics of the Orchard Palace, propelling him to a position where he could put himself forward for election with a great deal of confidence. Included with that was the offer of ultradrives for the Pilgrimage ships, a gift that would generate a near-certain success.

2008, Peter F. Hamilton, The Temporal Void, London: Macmillan, →ISBN, pages 358–359:

(science fiction) A spaceship drive capable of travelling faster than the speed of light.


xenological

"I don't think they'll be in any mood to trade xenological theory, Oma. They might not be so lenient with us now we've put up a fight."

2017, Eric Brown, Binary System, Oxford, Oxforshire: Solaris, →ISBN, page 226:

(science fiction) Relating to xenology ("the study of alien life").


vibroblade

Perhaps the last sound they heard was each other's laughter; or perhaps it was the hum of vibroblades in the seconds before death.

2010, John Meaney, Absorption, London: Gollancz, →ISBN, page 129:

(science fiction) A weapon or tool with a rapidly vibrating blade.


vibroknife

Beneath my jacket, I tugged the vibroknife from its sheath in the small of my back and activated the motor. With my free hand I pressed down hard on the dead man's spine and started cutting.

2003, Richard Morgan, Broken Angels, London: Gollancz, →ISBN, page 75:

(science fiction) Synonym of vibroblade (“a weapon or tool with a rapidly vibrating blade”).


tri-V

Tri-V (alternative)
tri-v (alternative)
trivee (alternative)
trivvy (alternative)

Moki and Ukatonen weren't supposed to go out without Eerin or Analin, so they spent most of the day watching the Tri-V or listening to Analin and Eerin talk about them. It was fun at first, seeing themselves on the Tri-V, but they only showed the same few pictures and words.

1999, Amy Thomson, Through Alien Eyes, New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 85:

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


tri-vid

There should have been women in silver suits taking in a show at the tri-vids before indulging in a spot of lunch, the kind that came in three-course pills, great big subservient robots trailing behind them. Instead there was a brown man in overalls collecting rubbish with a long stick outside an adult cinema, and the cars were halted, bumper-to-bumper, beside a traffic light that seemed to be stuck permanently on red.

2011, Lavie Tidhar, Osama: A Novel, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Solaris, published 2012, →ISBN, page 233:

(science fiction) Synonym of tri-V (“a system capable of recording or displaying three-dimensional video”).


trideo

en-noun

trideo (countable and uncountable, plural trideos)

Getting Karissa back to her cabin had been fairly easy, encountering only a few passengers along the way, who were too surprised by the chance encounter to ask for autographs or personal trideos with the star, especially as Grant kept her moving with a firm hand on her elbow.

2017, Veronica Scott, “Star Cruise: Songbird”, in Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, →ISBN, page 381:

(science fiction) A three-dimensional video.

His father had been Prime Minister for the last twelve years. There had been puff pieces about Randal on the trideo since he was a child.

2011, J. Wesley Bush, Knox's Irregulars, →ISBN, page 78:


tridim

By the time they got to the Wrapateria the line of kids snaked down the block. The usual jokers were taking tri-dims of the crowd and playing them back to each other.

2005, Karen Haber, Crossing Infinity, New York, N.Y.: ibooks, →ISBN, page 51:

(science fiction) Synonym of trideo (“a three-dimensional video”).

I entered theaters where the happy lotus eaters sat slumped in their massage chairs, transfixed by the glowing tridim images—and capered down the aisles. No one grumbled at me.

1963, Robert Silverberg, “To See the Invisible Man”, in Earth in Transit, New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., published 1976, page 59:


urban fantasy

urban fantasy (countable and uncountable, plural urban fantasies)

(literature) A subgenre of fantasy which takes place a contemporary urban setting.

More recently, Amanda Hocking, author of young adult paranormal romance and urban fantasies, self-published nine of her own novels, several of which made the New York Times best-seller list.

2012, Andrea Lunsford, Lisa Ede, Beverly J. Moss, Carole Clark Papper, Everyone's an Author, New York, N.Y., London: W. W. Norton and Company, →ISBN, page 666:

(literature) An individual work in this genre.


mutie

Manuel waded through rivulets of the dirty water. It steamed away or gurgled into cracks. Some muties were so addled that they kept slurping at the runoff even though the hunt was storming past, the thumps and snaps of men firing clear in the air.

1983, Gregory Benford, Against Infinity, New York, N.Y.: Avon Eos, published 1998, →ISBN, page 108:


future war

Other late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century novelists utilized thinly disguised Edison-surrogates in a range of future war books.

1997, Brooks Landon, Science Fiction After 1900: From the Steam Man to the Stars, New York, N.Y.: Twayne Publishers, →ISBN, page 44:

(literature) A subgenre of science fiction which involves warfare and how it might be conducted in the future.


neurolink

The clone soldiers were given basic cognitive advancement via neurolinks while they were still in the tanks.

2010, Alex Irvine, Iron Man: Virus, London: Titan Books, →ISBN, page 32:

(science fiction) A technology that allows the human brain to communicate directly with a computer.


organlegger

organleggers (plural)
organ-legger (alternative)

Blend of organ + bootlegger (“an illegal trader of goods, especially of alcohol”).

blend

Owen lay dead in the bloody snow, his noble body gashed and punctured in many places, and soaked in his own gore. And that was how the organleggers found him.

2004, Simon R[ichard] Green, Deathstalker Return, New York, N.Y.: Roc Books, →ISBN, page 404:

(science fiction) Someone who illegally harvests and sells human organs.


prespace

"No way to tell now," Miram admitted. "Lots of space junk around the second planet, though. Could be native, an example of a prespace culture making the transition, but the debris could also be the results of a mining operation or something else I have no frame of reference for."

2016, Evan Currie, Warrior King, Seattle, O.R.: 47North, →ISBN, page 233:

(science fiction) Of a civilization: having yet to develop space travel.


plastiskin

Gavin's supple, plastiskin face was somber, his voice subdued. Ursula could tell that he had been doing a lot of thinking.

1986, David Brin, “Lungfish”, in The River of Time, Niles, Illinois: Dark Harvest, →ISBN, page 340:

(science fiction) synthetic skin, especially that of an android.


Loonie

"I used to hate Loonies. All Odans do. But in my opinion, only the Jupiters and generals and Committee members are truly awful. The rest of you are . . . tolerable. And you? Definitely more than tolerable."

2015, Karen Bao, Dove Arising, New York, N.Y.: Viking, →ISBN, page 309:

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Earth's Moon.


slipstreamer

"Britain is soaring into the future with a wealth of talented science fiction writers”—Zenith's blurb overstates the case; but it could be truthfully said that "Britain is motoring sedately into a retro-eclectic fantasyland with a talented clique of slipstreamers and true-quill weirdos."

1989 September, Bruce Sterling, “Zenith: The Best in New British Science Fiction”, in The New York Review of Science Fiction, number 13, Pleasantville, N.Y.: Dragon Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10:

For the rest of us — slipstreamers, alpha males, difficult women, neophytes, neighbours, expats — it's down the long chute together, into a heap at the heart of a late year.

1993, John Clute, “Science Fiction Novels of the Year”, in New Worlds 3, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 203:

In his provocative 1998 essay, "The Squandered Promise of Science Fiction", sometime slipstreamer Jonathan Lethem proposed an alternate history of our genre.

2004 February, James Patrick Kelly, “On The Net”, in Asimov's Science Fiction, volume 28, number 2, Norwalk, C.T.: Dell Magazines, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 14:

(literature) Someone who writes slipstream fiction ("a genre of fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries").


telekineticist

"Kids—like girls and boys?" Squid asks. "I've only ever heard of female telekineticists."

2017, Corey J. White, Killing Gravity, New York, N.Y.: Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 67:

(science fiction, fantasy) Someone who has the ability to move objects with their mind; a telekinetic.


telempathy

"Telempathy is a skill that so far exists only in legends and rumors," Sue says. "To be able to master it would be something immensely valuable to the Sekhem."

2013, C[ynthia] J[aynes] Omololu, Intuition, New York, N.Y. […]: Walker Books, →ISBN, page 213:

(parapsychology, science fiction) The paranormal ability to sense the emotions of others; empathy.


telempathic

I did a telempathic analysis of Leo a few weeks back. He was in a difficult situation. Easily twice as intelligent than his family and school mates. I knew he was desperate for just about any kind of change in his life.

2007, Hugh A[lan] D[ouglas] Spencer, “When Bloomsbury Fails”, in Why I Hunt Flying Saucers & Other Fantasticals: A Science Fiction Short Story Retrospective, Milton, O.N.: Brain Lag, published 2016, →ISBN, page 218:

(parapsychology, science fiction) Relating to or involving telempathy ("the paranormal ability to sense the emotions of others").


telempath

"Very brave of you, but the ancient dragons of the Circle are very powerful telempaths and often use mind control on dragons untrained in mental battle. I will teach you how to protect your mind and fight a telepathic battle just in case you ever encounter one of their enforcers, or a human wizard."

2010, Susan Trombley, Princess's Dragon, New York, N.Y., Bloomington, I.N.: iUniverse, Inc., →ISBN, page 60:

(parapsychology, science fiction) Someone able to sense the emotions of others by paranormal means; someone who has the power of telempathy.


telescanner

"If you or Dr. Rankin cares to start a search program with the telescanner, you have my blessing."

1985, Michael P[aul] Kube-McDowell, Emprise, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 259:

(science fiction) A scanner, especially one able to collect information from far away.


threevee

threevees (plural)
three-vee (alternative)

The demon paused before answering, as though listening to an internal voice. Seen up close, he too was slightly blurred — like a threevee picture in the middle of a bad day for sunspots, Kin thought.

1981, Terry Pratchett, Strata, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 157:

She loved to sit with me when three or four of us went to the Blue Sea, to the Bay of Lue, to threevees in the city, to musical shows, or just to eat iced meloncolion on the showy balconies of the comiche.

2016, John Argo, Moon Berry Wine: A Far Future Science Fiction Novel, San Diego, C.A.: Clocktower Books, →ISBN, page 38:

(science fiction) A screen or television able to display a three-dimensional image.


Terranian

Possibly Terra + -an + -ian, thus making the term redundant.

"How we've all longed for this glorious day! And thanks to our glorious Fire Reaper techno, all Terranians can join with us in our final triumph!"

2013, Patricia Robertson, The Fire Reapers, Whitehorse, Y.T.: Linnaea Press, →ISBN, page 370:

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Earth.


Terranian

The first operator spoke no Terranian languages at all. The second one could only speak French and German.

1954 May, Bill Wesley, “The Primus Curse”, in Planet Stories, volume 6, number 6, New York, N.Y.: Fiction House, page 53:

(science fiction) Relating to Earth or its people.


subether

en-noun

subether (countable and uncountable, plural subethers)

subethers (plural)
sub-ether (alternative)

Her instrument panel was dead, not a single light across the con- sole on. Evidently the bdellium dish wasn't working. Either that, or the subether was still. Though the subether was never still, filled with voices from unimaginable distances.

1996, Michael Kandel, Panda Ray, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 134:

(science fiction) A fictional medium through which faster-than-light signals are able to travel.


sub-ether

sub-ether (countable and uncountable, plural sub-ethers)

(science fiction) Alternative form of subether.


subetherics

That surprised Ariel. ""We don't even know how he died." / "Gruesomely, according to the subetherics. Crushed." He glanced sidelong at her. "Sound familiar?"

2002, Mark W. Tiedemann, Aurora, New York, N.Y>, →ISBN, page 32:

(science fiction) Devices able to communicate using the subether ("a fictional medium through which faster-than-light signals are able to travel"), considered collectively.


planetographer

From planet + -o- + -grapher, perhaps modelled off of cartographer.

In the century-plus since Eris was settled, we have already raised the temperature of its lithosphere by several degrees, just as we've thickened the atmosphere ot Callisto a thousandfold: if this goes on, the more annoyingly farsighted planetographers warn, we can look forward to an increased incidence ot icequakes and the threat of a year-round atmosphere.

2008, Charles Stross, Saturn's Children: A Space Opera, New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 269:

(chiefly science fiction) Someone who studies planetography ("the branch of astronomy concerned with the description of the physical features of planets").


spacedog

spacedogs (plural)
space dog (alternative)

But Station Yorick's customers liked that first interview. The grizzled old spacedog, pipe in mouth, glass in hand, spinning a yarn.... […]

1980 April, A[rthur] Bertram Chandler, Asimov's Science Fiction, New York, N.Y.: Davis Publications, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 97:

(science fiction) A person experienced in space travel.


Tau Cetian

(science fiction) Relating to the Tau Ceti system or its people.


Tau Cetian

Tau Cetians (plural)
Tau Cetan (alternative)

(science fiction) An inhabitant of the Tau Ceti system.


Tau Cetian

(science fiction) The fictional language spoken in the Tau Ceti system.


wilamowitzianus

Named after the German classicist Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff.

(poetry, Ancient Rome) a meter consisting of two choriambs, used in Attic tragedy and in Roman comedy, used by Plautus and Terence.

Metres of Roman comedy#Wilamowitzianus
Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff


JBS

Journal of British Studies
w:Journal of British Studies

(publishing) Initialism of Journal of British Studies.

Journal of Burma Studies
w:Journal of Burma Studies

(publishing) Initialism of Journal of Burma Studies.


fairy hill

On this Hill [...] are the Remains of a CAMP, and where the Ground has suffered no Rupture are to be seen Tokens of circular Tents, called Fairy Hills, round which the vulgar report these Sylphes were wont to dance.

1754, Thomas Gardner, An Historical Account of Dunwich, Antiently a City, Now a Borough, page 189:

Their Fairy hills were called Tomhans and Shian, and were supposed to possess great internal comforts, with doors and windows that could only be discovered on dark evenings, by the bright light of the fairy fires shining through the artfully-constructed apertures.

1865, Cuthbert Bede, The White Wife: With Other Stories, Supernatural, Romantic and Legendary, page 189:

Finally, as regards the places in which these rites and mysteries may have been held, certain writers believe them to have been the "Fairy Hills" or "howes" in various parts of Scotland.

1928, Lewis Spence, Mysteries of Britain, page v. 136:

(folklore) A hill, barrow (tumulus), or other circular eminence, beneath which fairies live.


landsider

What else but the quest for knowledge would tempt a sane person away from a comfortable home? What else would persuade a landsider to take to the ocean, except the chance of getting to meet more strangers in a shorter time?

1983, John Brunner, The Crucible of Time, New York, N.Y.: Del Rey Books, →ISBN, page 103:

He wanted to stop at Petra's bunk and tell her about his home, about what his birthdays were usually like, just tell her it was his birthday so she'd say something about it being a happy one. But nobody told birthdays. It was childish. It was what landsiders did.

1985, Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game, London: Century Publishing, →ISBN, page 101:

We'll be going out with the tide, with an extra five knot of current running where the river is usually slowest. I just thought you might be in a hurry to move at this end, what with the way your friends are keeping out of sight down with the codfish smell. The way I hear tell, you landsider don't favor fish odor too much.

1987, Glen Cook, Sweet Silver Blues, New York, N.Y.: Roc Books, →ISBN, page 82:

Not a man I'd trust alone with her, you understand. Not a man I trust entirely on anything—too involved with the landsiders, the traders, the political people.

1988, Thomas T[hurston] Thomas, An Honorable Defense, New York, N.Y.: Baen Books, →ISBN, page 108:

It is easy for the landsider to forget that seafarers came in many disguises. We tend to think of officers and ratings — deck sailors. We might, if pricked, think about the engine room crew — who with the onset of oil, then diesel, just kept on shrinking per ship.

1993, Tim Madge, Long Voyage Home: True Stories From Britain's Twilight Maritime Years, London […]: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 146:

(chiefly science fiction or fantasy) Someone who lives on land (as opposed to the sea or space).


groundsider

Near the main airlock she foimd Tregare arguing loudly with persons she had never seen—groundsiders here, she thought.

1976, F[rancis] M[arion] Busby, Rissa Kerguelen, Berkley Publishing Corporation, →ISBN, page 67:

Coming back groundside, you always felt the dissociation. They shouldn't have brought him all the way back here; they should have left him out at a Jupiter station, or somewhere his own kind were. These groundsiders were the real aliens. He couldn't make any connections with contemporary Earth—this wasn't the America he remembered.

1988, Janet Morris, Chris Morris, Outpassage, New York, N.Y.: Pageant Books, →ISBN, page 7:

Trinli paused a second, holding his place with one hand while his whole body quivered with the need for crampons and ropes, and pitons driven solid into the walls around him. Lord. It had been a long time since his groundsider orientation had come back this strongly. He moved forward. Forward. Not up.

1999, Vernor Vinge, A Deepness in the Sky, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 109:

The server was cute, and I wondered how she got here, because her physique was groundsider, even more than mine. She had a wedge do with blond highlights and was cheerful without being icky.

2016, Michael Z. Williamson, Angeleyes, Riverdale, N.Y.: Baen Books, →ISBN, page 118:

(science fiction) Someone who lives on the ground (as opposed to space).


planetsider

Todd knew billions of planetsiders were watching, most of Earth. What would they make of this? They had to take the threat seriously. Pat had to make them understand—as he hadn't made them imderstand the true significance of the alien messenger.

1981, Juanita Coulson, Tomorrow's Heritage, New York, N.Y.: Del Rey Books, page 349:

Her chest was hurting already — no star-traveller had the stamina to outrun a planetsider—and she knew she could not keep up her pace for much longer.

1985, Melissa Scott, Five-Twelfths of Heaven, New York, N.Y.: Baen Books, →ISBN, page 307:

The passers-by were mostly planetsiders, some so recent you could see they had trouble handling low-G movement.

1989, Larry Niven, Man-Kzin Wars II, New York, N.Y.: Baen Books, →ISBN, page 216:

"So youre not a planetsider." Raine laughed. "A dirtgrubber? Of course not. I'm from the Habitat. Gryphon torus."

2011, Garth Nix, A Confusion of Princes, London: HarperCollins Children's Books, →ISBN, page 209:

(science fiction) Someone who lives on a planet.


moonship

moonships (plural)
moon ship (alternative)
moon-ship (alternative)

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

The space agency has requested the Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. to develop a method for controlling trace contaminants inside a spacecraft. […] Unlike the Earth's atmosphere, the air inside a moonship doesn't get cleaned by rains or winds.

1969 November, Arthur Fisher, “Science Newsfront: Last-minute news and notes to keep you up-to-date”, in Popular Science, volume 195, number 5, pages 22–24:

Other kits were for making aeroplanes, one a scale model of the Scandinavian Air Lines Douglas D.C.-8 which was expected to make the first flight from Britain to Los Angeles in April 1960. There was also a moonship of a type which the firm said will eventually reach the moon: all of which goes to show that sometimes toys precede the actual event and are not necessarily mementoes which come afterwards.

1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 144:

(astronautics, science fiction) A spaceship designed for travelling to the Moon.


letterset

Skill to prepare polyester form overlays by transferring letters and/or numerals from a letterset to a clear polyester sheet.

1990, United States. Office of Personnel Management. Office of Classification, Position Classification Standards: For Positions Under the General Schedule Classification System (page 7, page 30)

(typography) A sheet of letters or other characters to be applied by dry transfer.


trimensional

It is owing to this fundamental fact that the two retinal images of the same trimensional object are slightly different from each other, and this difference is technically called lateral disparity.

1920, Hubert Gruender, An Introductory Course in Experimental Psychology: […], volume I, Chicago, I.L.: Loyola University Press, page 175:

Sutt indicated the trimensional star-map on the table. He adjusted the controls and a cluster of some half-dozen stellar systems blazed red.

1944 August, Isaac Asimov, “The Big and the Little”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume XXXIII, number 6, page 8:

Photographic aggregates, as stated previously, can be made which produce single images with all the attributes of stereoscopic vision and which the writer termed "trimensional images." […] Trimensional pictures, the writer is certain, will replace the present geometric pictures as a matter of course. The trimensional perspective will lend a touch of amazing reality to photographs and reproductions of any and all kinds whatsoever.

1949 August, Theodore Nakken, “The Great Enigma: The Stereoscopic Perspective”, in International Projectionist, volume 24, number 8, New York, N.Y.: International Projectionist Publishing Co., Inc., →OCLC, page 25:

Haskell turned to the captain's desk, studied the trimensional photograph of an Ermesian native. A big creature—over seven feet tall—and heavy, with thick, short legs, hairy torso, long muscular arms terminating in broad, flat hands with multi-jointed fingers tipped with retractile, vermilion-dyed claws.

1950 August, Bernard I. Kahn, “A Pinch of Culture”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume XLV, page 90, column 1:

Since Sam had another son who was about three years old, he was interested in the quality of children's fare on television. He could see that my trimensional animation process would be perfect for children's films.

1986, Art Clokey, “Foreward”, in Gumby: The Authorized Biography of the World's Favorite Clayboy, New York, N.Y.: Harmony Books, →ISBN, page 2, column 1:

A trimensional scan showed only cuts, bruises and a small fracture in her kneecap. All of the injuries were easily treated.

1996, W[illiam] R[och] Thompson, Infiltrator, New York, N.Y. […]: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 223:

(chiefly science fiction) Three-dimensional.


belle dame sans merci

belle dame sans merci (plural belles dames sans merci)

From French [Term?] (literally “beautiful woman without mercy”). La Belle Dame sans Merci is the title of a ballad produced by the English poet John Keats in 1819; this was derived from the title of a 15th-century poem by Alain Chartier, La Belle Dame sans Mercy.

bor

(literature) A beautiful woman who seduces a man and then consigns him to an unpleasant fate.


Marsscape

Marsscapes (plural)
Marscape (alternative)
marsscape (alternative)
marscape (alternative)

These pictures reveal, in the bright region west of the Sinus Meridiani, a totally unexpected Marscape of confused terrain that is like nothing man has seen on Earth, moon, or Mars before.

1969 November, Arthur Fisher, “Science Newsfront: Last-minute news and notes to keep you up-to-date”, in Popular Science, volume 195, number 5, page 22:

(astronomy, science fiction) A view of an area of Mars; a Martian landscape.