xenopaleontology

Text excerpts from: An Introduction to Xenopaleontology: The Study of Ancient Extraterrestrial Life. Interplanetary Council Public Document #3664. 18, Mulburn, Peters, et. al., 2 May 2389.

1981 June, Joel Hagen, “Xenopaleontology”, in Heavy Metal, volume 5, number 3, page 42:

J. Q. R. Forster, professor of xenopaleontology and xenoarchaeology at King's College, London, was engrossed in a leather-bound volume from a shelf of 19th-century classics when Blake and the commander entered the library.

1990, Paul Preuss, The Medusa Encounter, Avon Books, →ISBN, page 122:

I would vehemently hope that in some far-future day a real, honest-to-goodness human geology/xenopaleontology crew is sent to Mars and that it sets down in that same area and seriously examines some of these things up close and^([sic]) great detail.

2004 March 9, Herb Schaltegger, “Re: "Avoiding the 'F word' on Mars -- F*SSIL" -- Oberg”, in alt.alien.visitors (Usenet):

When it had left the system, the tool-users were in the middle of a spirited attempt to wipe themselves out, which led the frigate to one hypothesis that the biological material the freighter was carrying had been some sort of xenopalaeontology expedition to preserve the species; […]

2014, Gavin Deas, Empires: Extraction, Hachette UK, →ISBN, page 26:

(rare, science fiction) The study of past extraterrestrial life forms.


Alcmanian

en-adj

Alcmanian (comparative more Alcmanian, superlative most Alcmanian)

more Alcmanian (comparative)
most Alcmanian (superlative)

(poetry) A verse comprising four dactyls, a dactylic tetrameter.


mumak

Introduced by J. R. R. Tolkien in the form mûmak.

If you see a mumak and do not have a way of killing it before it gets near you, run.

2008, rpresser, “YAASP”, in rec.games.roguelike.nethack (Usenet):

(fantasy fiction) A creature resembling a huge elephant.


anopisthograph

(palaeography) Written on one side only.


ottava rima

en-noun

ottava rima (usually uncountable, plural ottave rime)

/ɒˌtɑːvə ˈɹiːmə/

/oʊˌtɑvə ˈɹimə/

Borrowed from Italian ottava rima (literally “eighth rhyme”).

bor

(poetry) An arrangement of stanzas of eight lines in heroic verse, with three rhymes, the first six lines rhyming alternately and the last two forming a couplet (ab ab ab cc).

օկտավ

arrangement of stanzas of eight lines rhyming ab ab ab cc


Dyson swarm

Named after American theoretical physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson

named-after

(science fiction) A system of movable, independent satellites that as a whole compose a Dyson sphere.


star lifting

(science fiction) A hypothetical process wherein a portion of a star's mass is removed, generally to serve as an energy source.


von Neumann probe

en-noun

von Neumann probe (plural von Neumann probes)

(science fiction) A von Neumann machine, or machine capable of self-replication, that is sent on interstellar voyages to investigate or terraform.


sleeper ship

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

(science fiction) A spaceship, all or some of whose passengers are in suspended animation.


Dyson tree

genetically engineered
genetically engineered

(science fiction) A hypothetical genetically engineered plant that could grow in a comet.


bioship

(science fiction) A spaceship that is partially or wholly composed of biological material.


sidestick

sidesticks (plural)
side-stick (alternative)

The sidesticks should be of the full length of the page, and abut against the headsticks on the outside of the form .

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 side of a page that is being typeset, and locked in place by quoins.


tablework

(printing, historical) Typesetting of tabular matter.


press proof

at press proof

(printing, historical) The last proof for correction before sending to press.

(printing, historical) A proof taken on a press, especially to show impression, margins, colour, etc.


mindlock

(fantasy, science fiction) A magic spell or technology that restricts a person's ability to think freely.


roll-to-roll processing
roll-to-roll processing#English

(printing) Abbreviation of roll-to-roll processing.

reel-to-reel processing
reel-to-reel processing#English

(printing) Abbreviation of reel-to-reel processing.


hyperchess

(science fiction) A multidimensional form of the game of chess.


press revise

(printing, historical) A proof for final revision.


typograph

(printing, historical) A machine for setting type or for casting lines of type and setting them.


doppel

A clipping of doppelganger; however, the words are not synonyms.

(science fiction) An identical copy of a person (such as a clone, virtual reality representation, etc.).


Garamond

Claude Garamont
Garamond
Garamond (typography)

From Garamondus, the Latin form of the name of Claude Garamont.

Caslon or Garamond or Baskerville is shouted as the compositors search for as many cases of these types as can be found.

2010, Andrea Levy, The Long Song, Tinder Press (2017), page 381:

(typography) A family of serif fonts derived from the work of Claude Garamont.

(German printing, dated) Synonym of Long Primer.


small text

(printing, dated) A small size of type, in French and Italian printing, usually conflated with brevier but technically treated as 7½ Didot points.


double bourgeois

(uncommon, printing, dated) Synonym of great primer.


two-line brevier

(printing, UK, dated) A size of type between English and great primer, standardized as 16-point.


nonpareille

(printing): From French nonpareille and German Nonpareille (“6-point type”).

(printing, French and German contexts, dated) Synonym of nonpareil.


double pica

(printing, dated) A large size of type, standardized as (UK) 22- or (US) 24-point.


double small pica

(printing, dated) A large size of type, standardized as (UK) 21- or (US) 22-point.


two-line pica

(printing, UK, historical) A large size of type, standardized as 24-point.


double English

(printing, US, dated) The size of type between double pica and double great primer, standardized as 28-point.


two-line English

two-line great primer
two-line great primer

(printing, UK, dated) The size of type between two-line pica and two-line great primer, standardized as 28-point.


double great primer

(printing, US, dated) The size of type between double English and meridian, standardized as 36-point.


two-line great primer

two-line double pica
two-line double pica

(printing, UK, dated) The size of type between two-line English and two-line double pica, standardized as 36-point.


two-line double pica

(printing, UK, dated) The size of type between two-line great primer and canon, standardized as 44-point.


ushioni

Borrowed from Japanese 牛鬼 (うしおに, ushioni).

(Japanese folklore) An ox ogre or demon; an evil ox spirit.


antimutant

en-adj

antimutant (comparative more antimutant, superlative most antimutant)

more antimutant (comparative)
most antimutant (superlative)


blood and thunder

blood (noun) + and (conjunction) + thunder (noun). First attested in 1696.

com

blood-and-thunder stories

Not Buffalo Bill's! He gave us a jack-o'-lantern scare once upon a time, which I don't believe any of us will ever forget. We had never seen that weird species of pumpkin, and Will embroidered a blood-and-thunder narrative.

1899, Helen Cody Wetmore, Zane Grey, Last of the Great Scouts:

"Your husband is an American. He should be able to keep you well entertained with blood-and-thunder stories," said he.

1904, George Barr McCutcheon, chapter VI, in Beverly of Graustark:

Very sincerely do we wish that at least one of the many romance writers who are so industriously inventing wild-animal blood-and-thunder stories would do more work with his eyes and less with his imagination.

1922, William T. Hornaday, The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals:

(especially of language, action, or fiction) Both melodramatically violent and aggressive; characterized by anger, or forthright ideas and expression.


anticathartic

en-adj

anticathartic (comparative more anticathartic, superlative most anticathartic)

more anticathartic (comparative)
most anticathartic (superlative)

(literature) In no way causing or inducing catharsis.


holoviewer

(science fiction) A device that can project a holographic image to an observer.


night hag

(folklore) a demon that gives rise to sleep paralysis


autocook

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

Jack picked up two lunch kits from the counter and tossed them into the autocook.

2014, Collin R. Skocik, Voyage into the Unknown 6: The Mind Machine, page 231:

With a flick of a needle-like finger he activated the autocook and selected "random" from the menu. He wanted to be surprised, and with over one thousand meals stored in its internal memory there was always a good chance […]

2018, Neil Davies, A World Of Assassins, page 119:

(science fiction) A machine that prepares and dispenses meals.


noble savage

First appeared in John Dryden's heroic play The Conquest of Granada (1672), where it was used by the son of a Christian prince, believing himself a Spanish Muslim, in reference to himself.

It seemed hardly possible that by such comparatively small mouthfuls he could keep up the vitality diffused through so broad, baronial, and superb a person. But, doubtless, this noble savage fed strong and drank deep of the abounding element of air; and through his dilated nostrils snuffed in the sublime life of the worlds.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 34, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 167:

The Isángú, or Ingwánba, the craving felt after a short abstinence from animal food, does not spare the white traveller more than it does his dark guides; and, though the moral courage of the former may resist the "gastronomic practice" of breaking fast upon a fat young slave, one does not expect so much from the untutored appetite of the noble savage.

1876, Richard F[rancis] Burton, Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo. […], part I (The Gaboon River and Gorilla Land), London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle, […], →OCLC:

It is written that the noble savage must never express surprise in the presence of the white.

1911, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “The Children are Carried Off”, in Peter and Wendy, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, pages 179–180:

This is like one of those Red-skin stories where the noble savages carry off a girl and the honest backwoodsman with his incomparable knowledge follows the track and reads the signs of her fate in a footprint here, a broken twig there, a trinket dropped by the way.

1914, Joseph Conrad, Chance, London: Methuen, →OCLC, page 283:

Here the problem is aggravated by the mutually reinforcing influences of the ‘black legend’ of Spanish greed and cruelty, and the contrasting myth of the American Indian as ‘noble savage’.

1992, Edwin Williamson, The Penguin history of Latin America, London, New York: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 84:

(literature) A stock character embodying the concept of an idealized indigene or outsider who has not been corrupted by civilization and therefore symbolizes humanity's innate goodness.


Afropunk

There’s a lot going on in this novel, but Thompson expertly juggles all his disparate elements – alien encounter, cyberpunk-biopunk-Afropunk thriller, zombie-shocker, an off-kilter love story and an atmospheric portrait of a futuristic Nigeria.

2018 October 4, Adam Roberts, “Rosewater by Tade Thompson review – a stellar SF debut”, in The Guardian:

(science fiction) Afrocentric science fiction.


Altairian

Altairian (comparative more Altairian, superlative most Altairian)

more Altairian (comparative)
most Altairian (superlative)

The book is a guide book, a travel book. […] It is of course that invaluable companion for all those who want to see the marvels of the known Universe for less than thirty Altairian dollars a day—The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

1980 October, Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, London: Pan Books, →ISBN:

(science fiction) Of or relating to the star Altair.


Altairian

(science fiction) A native or inhabitant of Altair.


shoujo ai

Two connected etymologies. Either interpreted as a loan translation of Japanese 少女愛 (shōjo ai), or a specialized neologism created in analogy to shounen ai (Japanese 少年愛(しょうねんあい) (shōnen'ai)) using Japanese vocabulary.

(Japanese fiction) Anime and manga that explore emotional, but largely platonic, homoerotic relationships between women.

(Japanese fiction, slang) A genre of manga, anime, or hentai featuring lesbian sex and romance; yuri.


shounen ai

shounen ai (plural)
shōnen-ai (alternative)

(Japanese fiction) A narrative or visual work featuring a romance or sexual relationship between two or more males.


school life

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

(anime, manga) A genre which has the majority of the storyline taking place in a school.


CIJ

continuous inkjet
continuous inkjet#English

(printing) Initialism of continuous inkjet.


TIJ

(printing) Initialism of thermal inkjet.


hellbox

(printing, historical) A receptacle where cast metal sorts were thrown after printing.


arsic

(poetry) Of the elevation of the voice in pronouncing the syllables of a word, usually the part of the word or phrase upon which the stress or accent falls.

(poetry) Of the part of the metrical foot upon which such an elevation falls.


computerette

One tiny cassette holds 8000 2000-mile routes, any of which can be exposed at will. It is not hard to imagine the ACD — and its associated computerette — becoming a splended "optional extra" in the vacationer's family car.

1968, Popular Mechanics, volume 129, number 3, page 115:

Highly robotic for her time, Baby Luna came with her moon landing module, crashball, computerette, star maps, space suit, dragon robe and other clothes.

2011, Fred Holmes, Heroes of the Transition, page 8:

My bijou computerette had no truck with floppy disks, so an Internet café would not suffice.

2012, Miranda Innes, Getting to Manana, page 175:

What I should really do, of course, is use a Personal Digital Assistant; one of those tiny hand-held computerette thingies […]

(rare, chiefly science fiction) A small computer.


self-publish

en-verb

self-publish (third-person singular simple present self-publishes, present participle self-publishing, simple past and past participle self-published)

self-publishes (present singular third-person)
self-publishing (participle present)
self-published (participle past)
self-published (past)
self-pub (alternative)
selfpub (alternative)

(authorship) To publish a work independently, without the assistance of a publishing company.


trad-pub

trad-pubs (plural)
tradpub (alternative)
trad pub (alternative)

traditional publisher
traditional publisher

(authorship) A work that has been published through a third-party publishing company, or a traditional publisher.


trad-pub

trad-pub (third-person singular simple present trad-pubs, present participle trad-pubbing, simple past and past participle trad-pubbed)

trad-pubs (present singular third-person)
trad-pubbing (participle present)
trad-pubbed (participle past)
trad-pubbed (past)
tradpub (alternative)
trad pub (alternative)

(authorship, informal) To publish a work via a third-party publishing company, or traditional publisher.


meganekko

Borrowed from Japanese 眼鏡っ娘 (meganekko), from 眼鏡 (megane, “glasses”) + 娘 (ko, “girl”).

Oh... Then I've have to find somebody who's be willing to get me a less-than-full-body shot of her, like the ones I have of five other meganekko who wear pince-nez: […]

2004 November 29, Rob Kelk, “Re: Anime genres? (was Re: Anime that every fan should watch?)”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

Anyway, so far, really, my favourite character is Yuki. Bonus points when we find out in the second episode she's a meganekko.

2006 May 2, The Eternal Lost Lurker [username], “Just started Haruhi...”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

Airheaded and delectably gauche, Miyuki stands out as a classic incarnation of the meganekko— namely, as noted, the moe type whose charm derives largely from the wearing of glasses—while also appearing to have a soothing effect on those around her by virtue of her sheer presence.

2012, Dani Cavallaro, Kyoto Animation: A Critical Study and Filmography, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 126:

(anime, manga) A female fictional character whose charm or attractiveness derives largely from wearing glasses.


cambion

From Late Latin cambio (“I exchange”). Doublet of change.

(folklore) The half-demon offspring of either an incubus and a female human or a succubus and a male human.


bokashi

(printing) A technique in Japanese woodblock printing that achieves a variation in lightness and darkness of a single colour by means of ink applied by hand in gradations, rather than uniformly.


tomhan

(Scotland, folklore) A magical fairy mound.


Sol System

the Sol System (canonical)
Sol system (alternative)


lavatorium

en-noun

lavatorium (plural lavatoriums or lavatoria)

Borrowed from Late Latin lavātōrium. Doublet of lavatory.

After that, Probono fades into obscurity, save for a reference in the third volume of Caesar’s Gallic Suits pertaining to an inscription engraved on a wall in a public lavatorium which, freely translated, means “Probono gives it away-call MXC-IIVD.”

1985, S. Sponte [pseudonym; David J. Millstein], “To Wit: Pro Bono Publico, and how he grew”, in The Pennsylvania Lawyer, volume 7, Harrisburg, Pa.: Pennsylvania Bar Association, page 38, columns 2–3:

They say that because he’s missing so much of his liver, he can’t digest his food like normal people and hasn’t been to the lavatorium in years. They say he’s gonna blow like a volcano.

2008, Carolyn Hennesy, “Newly ‘Maid’”, in Pandora Gets Jealous, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children’s Books, →ISBN, page 18:

He barely made it to the lavatorium, throwing up again and again.

2010, Kate Quinn, chapter 11, in Mistress of Rome, London: Headline Review, →ISBN, page 164:

Do you need the lavatorium, Hilarious? I need to go.

2014, Jeanne Willis, “Julius Teaser: The World’s Worst Prankster”, in Hysterical Historicals (TreeTops Chucklers), Oxford, Oxon: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 37:

“The heating is back on, but we’ve got a big problem with the lavatorium,” Bumptius explained. “The toilet drains are still blocked with frozen poo.[…]”

2015, Shoo Rayner, Stinkius Maximus (Roman Brit; 3), London: Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN:

(rare, historical fiction) An ancient Roman lavatory.


hungarumlaut

The "regular umlaut" with the dieresis dots originated from a form with two vertical or slanted strokes (not unlike the "hungarumlaut" speaking in typographical terms).

2003 July 12, Andreas Höfeld, “Re: middle age font”, in comp.fonts (Usenet):

For example, the small o with tilde, õ, has been displayed instead of o with the double acute accent (also known as the Hungarumlaut), ő, which is a different character.

2014, Leslie Sikos, Web Standards: Mastering HTML5, CSS3, and XML, page 48:

Many accents are specific to certain languages; the double acute, for instance, is used solely in Hungarian and is sometimes referred to as the Hungarumlaut.

2017, Gavin Ambrose, The Visual Dictionary of Pre-press and Production, page 19:

(typography, very rare) The double acute accent (˝), a rare diacritical mark made up of two acute accents, chiefly used in the Hungarian language.


throneworld

From throne + world; compare throneroom.

The descent to Coruscant's surface was uneventful, but Dr. Gast, seeing the former Imperial throneworld for the first time in years, was thrilled by every moment, […]

1999, Aaron Allston, Solo Command, →ISBN, page 336:

This is the homeworld, the Mistress Planet, the land that the traitor-god chose; this is Braxi, the planet that the Braxaná claimed, the throneworld of Zatar.

2001, C. S. Friedman, In Conquest Born, →ISBN:

Following orders from Starfleet, the Enterprise is en route to Pai, throneworld of the insular and enigmatic Dragon Empire.

2012, Kij Johnson, Dragon's Honor, →ISBN:

Han and Leia Solo, along with Han's friends Shug and Salla, made a daring rescue attempt, infiltrating the Emperor's throneworld and spiriting away Luke and Artoo.

2014, Tom Veitch, Star Wars: Dark Empire Trilogy, →ISBN:

Lo and behold, the Skrull throneworld was summarily destroyed by the planet-eating Galactus, and Veranke assumed the throne by right of succession.

2015, Dan Casey, 100 Things Avengers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, →ISBN:

(science fiction) The planet which serves as the seat of an interplanetary empire's government.


werejaguar

The rain god appears as a werejaguar, part human, part snarling beast.

A pottery figure of a Mexican god who was thought to assume the shapes of many animals. Here he is shown as a werejaguar.

1973, Nancy Garden, Werewolves, Lippincott (1973), page 115 (image caption)

Before your eyes, the shaman has transformed himself into a werejaguar!

2008, Buried Treasures: Young Explorers' Guide, QA International, →ISBN, page 33:

(fiction, mythology) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a jaguar.


werecrocodile

Werecrocodile legends are quire common wherever crocodiles are found.

2000, Rosalyn Greene, The Magic of Shapeshifting, Red Wheel/Weiser, →ISBN, page 77:

As though responding to some unseen signal, one of the submerged werecrocodiles reared up in a spray of water and transformed into its human shape

2005, Kameron Franklin, Maiden of Pain: The Priests, Wizards of the Coast, →ISBN:

The werecrocodile laughed at him, the feral grin of a predator displaying nightmarish fangs.

2012, Ilona Andrews, “Retribution Clause”, in P. N. Elrod, editor, Hex Appeal, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 32:

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a crocodile.


first reader

(education, publishing) A book for children who are learning to read, usually consisting of pictures and some basic words or phrases.


full point

(UK, typography) full stop, period (British printers' term)


sapphistry

From sapphist + -ry, perhaps modelled on the word sophistry.

Jane Marcus illustrates how Woolf embeds "seductive sapphistry" in her works.

1993, Janet Doubler Ward, JoAnna Stephens Mink, Communication and Women's Friendships:

(literature) A seductive style supposed to be associated with women writing for a female audience.


said-bookism

From The Said Book + -ism; coined by James Blish, writing under the pen name William Atheling Jr., after The Said Book, the title of a booklet for aspiring writers listing countless alternatives to the word “said” in writing dialogue.

Jim Blish once dedicated a book to me. He introduced me to the music of Charles Ives, to the taste of Vander Flip, to the urgency of avoiding the said-bookism, to the concept of the watershed, to the pleasures of Indo-Ceylonese food.

1980, Harlan Ellison, Shatterday, Houghton Mifflin, Dedication

(authorship, rare) A verb (such as "explained", "shouted", or "uttered") used to indicate dialogue when writing fiction, chosen so as to avoid using the word "said".

(authorship, uncountable) The studious avoidance, in writing dialogue, of the word "said".


werebeaver

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can change between beaver and human form.


werepanther

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can change between panther and human form.

panthère-garou

shapeshifter who can assume the shape of a panther


werepuma

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can change between puma and human form.


rejection slip

The rejection slip was so tactfully worded that he felt kindly toward the editor.

1909, Jack London, chapter 11, in Martin Eden:

The editor . . . returned the manuscript with a rejection slip. Anthony sent it off elsewhere and began another story.

1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, (please specify |book=1, 2, or 3):

I told my writers . . . by the end of the term they'd have to bring in either a rejection slip or a check from a publisher.

2002 April 14, Frank McCourt, “Reflections on Creative Writing Class”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-08-18:

(publishing) A standardized message notifying an author that his or her work has not been accepted for publication, ordinarily printed on a small piece of paper and attached to the returned manuscript.


psyker

(science fiction) a person who uses psychic powers.


letterspacing

letterspacing (usually uncountable, plural letterspacings)

letterspacings (plural)
letter-spacing (alternative)

(typography) The amount of space between adjacent text characters.


biomechanoid

I always thought that that original ship, which I call the Croissant, was a battleship, holding these biomechanoid creatures that were all about destruction.

2015 September 23, Ben Child, “Ridley Scott plans three more Prometheus films before Alien”, in The Guardian:

(science fiction) A robot in the form of an animal.


upmaking

upmaking (usually uncountable, plural upmakings)

(printing, historical) The arrangement of lines into columns or pages.


Mako Mori test

Named after the character Mako Mori from the 2013 film Pacific Rim by a Tumblr user known as "Chaila", who thought that the older Bechdel test was sometimes insufficient for measuring the representation of women in films.

But what stood out most to me was how the film [Gravity] proves we need The Mako Mori Test.

2013, Ryan Syrek, "She Needed Her Space", The Reader, Volume 20, Number 35, 10 October 2013 - 16 October 2013, page 22

It [Run Lola Run] does pass the Mako Mori test though, because Lola is motivated by her boyfriend's safety, her actions do not always impact his story arc.

2015, Lani Gerbi, "The Bechdel Sword in the Stone", On Dit (Adelaide University), Volume 83, Issue 7, 15 July 2015, page 19

Below is just one take, and uses the established Bechdel and Mako Mori tests to assess whether a work is feminist/representative.

2015 August 17, Charlotte Hann, “Feminist Fandom”, in Salient, volume 78, number 19, Victoria University of Wellington, page 30:

(literature, critical theory) A feminist test for evaluating works of fiction by whether they have (i) at least one female character (ii) who has her own narrative arc (iii) which does not exist to support the narrative arc of a male character.


Sinbad

Borrowed from Arabic سِنْدِبَاد (sindibād), from Middle Persian (compare Persian سندباد (sendbâd)), possibly borrowed from Sanskrit सिद्धपथ (siddhapatha, “path of the Blessed”).
According to folk etymology, from سند (send) + باد (bâd), whence also the Arabic هِنْدِبَاد (hindibād).

der

(fiction) A fictional sailor, the hero of a story-cycle of Middle Eastern origin, who encountered monsters and magic while travelling the seas east of Africa and south of Asia.


starry eyes

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

(chiefly anime and manga) Eyes with exaggerated starry highlights, with an expression of wonder or delight.


mono-verse

It may be mentioned, in this connection, that while the melodies in GrameGeya and the Aranyaka are based on mono-verses those in the Uha and Rahasya are elaborated generally on tfcas, triple Tcas, from the Uttara Arcika of the Samaveda.

1973, प्रतिहारसूत्रम्:

In many places trcas are divided into ekarcas, hymns of mono-verses; maybe this MS follows a different version of SV.

2002, Harvard Oriental Series - Volume 2; Volume 58:

However, the notes would remain unchanged and thus perceived as a mono-verse, a verset or a stanza (not only for a poet, but also for a prose writer), leaving enough possibilities for mutual creation with a recipient.

2014 September, N Naumenko, “The Short Story Through the Prism of Literary Mastery”, in Comparative Literature:

(literature) A poem or song consisting of a single verse.


culteranismo

(literature) A literary style during the Baroque period of Spain, characterized by a very ornamental, ostentatious vocabulary and a message that is complicated by a sea of metaphors and complex syntactical order.


BSG

Battlestar Galactica
w:Battlestar Galactica

(science fiction) Initialism of Battlestar Galactica, an American science fiction media franchise.


heptapody

From hepta- + -pody, from Ancient Greek ἑπτά (heptá, “seven”) and πούς, ποδός (poús, podós, “foot”).

(poetry) A measure or series consisting of seven feet.


holochess

(science fiction) The game of chess played with holograms rather than physical pieces.


long i

(palaeography, epigraphy) a tall variant of the letter i, ⟨ꟾ⟩, used in all-capital Latin inscriptions and manuscripts in classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages for a long vowel /iː/. (Other long vowels were marked with apices.)


vox nihili

From Latin vōx (“voice”) + nihilī (“of nothing”). See also vox populi.

(typography) A spelling or textual error.


cryoprison

(science fiction) A prison whose inmates are cryogenically frozen for the duration of their sentences.


Sol VI

From its position as the sixth planet out from the Sun (Sol).

(poetic, science fiction) The planet Saturn.


Sol VII

From its position as the seventh planet out from the Sun (Sol).

(poetic, science fiction) The planet Uranus.


Sol VIII

From its position as the eighth planet out from the Sun (Sol).

(poetic, science fiction) The planet Neptune.


varitype

From a former trade name, VariTyper, presumably from variable and typer.

(printing, historical) A kind of advanced typewriter that could use various different typefaces.


varitype

en-verb

varitype (third-person singular simple present varitypes, present participle varityping, simple past and past participle varityped)

varitypes (present singular third-person)
varityping (participle present)
varityped (participle past)
varityped (past)

(printing, historical) To prepare printed material using a machine of this kind.


bleed edge

bleed edges (plural)
bleed-edge (alternative)


Catullan

en-adj

Catullan (comparative more Catullan, superlative most Catullan)

more Catullan (comparative)
most Catullan (superlative)

He does so chiefly by employing graphic language (especially related to passive homosexual acts) which calls into sexual question the virility of the Catullan persona.

1996, Christopher John Nappa, The man and the mask : persona, character, and technique in the poems of Catullus:

(poetry) Of or relating to the ancient poet Catullus.


elhi

elhi textbooks

During the peak elhi periods, manufacturers are already running 24-hour shifts and are employing outside help in order to meet current demand. Consequently, the only way to increase their capacity is to plan the work more efficiently.

1989, Book Industry Study Group, Strategic Information Services, Elementary-high school textbooks, page 13:

elementary school
elementary school#English

(education, publishing, jargon, often attributive) Clipping of elementary school/high school. In some countries, the period of elementary school through high school.


conapt

Coined by Philip K. Dick from condominium + apartment.

The taxi let him off on the roof field of his conapt building; he descended by moving ramp and arrived at his own door.

I could sense there was no one else in the conapt.

The fact that she had begged him not to leave the conapt just now, expressing fear for his life with the Inquisitors at large, had likely contributed to those thoughts.

2011, Michael Reaves, Patterns of Force:

(science fiction) A condominium apartment.


hexapody

en-noun

hexapody (countable and uncountable, plural hexapodies)

From hexa- + -pody, from Ancient Greek ἑξα- (hexa-, “six”) and πούς, ποδός (poús, podós, “foot”).

(poetry, countable) A verse or measure of six metrical feet.


letterspace

(typography) A space as wide as a single text character.


typeholder

(printing, historical) A container for type.


televiewer

(science fiction) A device for viewing things remotely, along the lines of a television.


eraser dust

The handwritten, chalkboard type is called eraser dust.

2004, Maria Nerius, Digital Scrapbooking, →ISBN, page 75:

He is also known for designing dozens of graphic fonts during the early 1990s such as Dragonwick, Dupuy, Eraser Dust, Pixie Font, Polo Semi-Script, Rabbit Bars, and Hosting, to name only a few.

2011, James Michael Floyd, Composers in the Classroom, →ISBN, page 238:

The moment Kelly noel saw the eraser dust font at Dafont.com, she knew it would be perfect for a page about her sons playing with chalk on the driveway.

2011, Scrapbook Tips & Techniques - Book 2, →ISBN, page 80:

(computing, typography) A font that simulates wide hand-drawn letters with a slightly mottled appearance and irregular edges.


digislate

I have us make maps of our territory on digislates we found in a waterlogged cellar at the bottom of a ravine, […]

I used to borrow one of the inventory digislates with general network access, then slip up here to research.

(science fiction) A computer resembling a slate or tablet.


editio princeps

editio princeps (plural editiones principes)

From New Latin ēditiō prīnceps (“first edition”), 1800s.

bor

A caller interrupted me yesterday, a most persistent fellow and a dangerous one to the purse of the tyro collector of Americana, though not to me. He was a man of some pretence to classic education, and superficially versed in lore of title, date, and editio princeps.

1903, Mabel Osgood Wright, People of the Whirlpool:

The extract from the Missal of Constance, which was printed before the editio princeps […] does not contain the formulae for Advent, Sundays after Epiphany, Lent and the Sundays after Easter and Pentecost; […]

2004, Thomas Fisch, editor, Primary Readings on the Eucharist, Liturgical Press, →ISBN, footnote, page 34:

If the editio princeps was an attempt to create an authoritative version of the pontifical, such was not yet attainable.

2007, Terence Bailey, Alma Colk Santosuosso, editors, Music in Medieval Europe […] , Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., →ISBN, page 199:

(humanities, printing) The first printed edition of a work previously only published in manuscript form.

eerste druk

first printed edition of a work previously only published as manuscript


XAP

(publishing) Initialism of Extensible Authoring Publishing, the old name for XMP.


shilling mark

A development of the long s ⟨ſ⟩, an abbreviation of Latin solidus, used to mark the amount of shillings in a sum. Formerly also the slash in all its uses, but this extended sense was taken on by the term solidus.

(UK, typography, historical) Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩ in its use to mark the amount of shillings in a sum or (obsolete) in all its uses.

slash in its use to mark the amount of shillings in a sum or


slash mark

slash marks (plural)
slash-mark (alternative)

Used to distinguish the typographic sense of slash from its other uses.

Initial inquiries among professional typists uncover names like slant, slant line, slash, and slash mark. Examination of typing instruction manuals discloses additional names such as diagonal and diagonal mark, and other sources provide the designation oblique.

1965, Dmitri A. Borgmann, Language on Vacation, page 240:


slash-mark

(typography) Alternative form of slash mark.


scratch comma

scratch commas (plural)
scratch-comma (alternative)

(typography, historical) Synonym of slash ⟨ / ⟩ in its former use as a form of comma.

slash in its former use as a form of comma


scratch-comma

(typography, historical) Alternative form of scratch comma.


middot

From mid- + dot, possibly as a calque of its alternative name interpunct.


forward stroke

(UK, typography) Synonym of forward slash.


fraction slash

en-noun

fraction slash (plural fraction slashes)

(typography) The slash variant ⟨⁄⟩ used for expressing fractions.


memory core

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya: I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core.
Captain Anderson: I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism.
Shepard: How did you manage to preserve the memory core?[…]
Tali'Zorah nar Rayya: According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:

(science fiction, computing) A (semi-)permanent computer memory storage device that may be extracted, and may or may not be separate from the computer core.


computer core

(science fiction, computing) a computer processing center or central computer


newsnet

(science fiction) A news broadcasting network.


diagonal mark

To distinguish the intended sense of diagonal.

(typography) Synonym of slash as the forward slash ⟨/⟩ and sometimes also its proscribed sense inclusive of the backslash ⟨\⟩.


slant line

Used to distinguish the intended sense of slant.


oblique mark

A clarification of the intended sense of oblique.

The oblique mark ∖ above the letters implies that the notes must come in succession, the upper one first, as this mark ／ signifies a contrary succession.

1804, William Bingley, North Wales, volume II, page 338:

Any fraction may be made by typing the numerator, the oblique mark (/), and the denominator. The oblique mark is struck with the small finger of the right hand.

1941, Rupert Pitt Sorelle, Gregg Typing, page 266:

Your fourth finger on your right hand strikes semicolon (;) on the home row, reaches up slightly for p, and down to the bottom row slightly right for the oblique mark (/).

2003, Frank P. Donnelly, Touch N Type, page 20:

(typography, uncommon) Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩, sometimes (generally proscribed) inclusive of similar marks such as the backslash ⟨\⟩.


oblique stroke

The oblique, short for oblique stroke or line, is written /, originally the French way of writing or printing a comma.

1953, Eric Partridge, You Have a Point There: A Guide to Punctuation and Its Allies, page 155:

They are normally in the form "Case 79/87", in which the two digits after the oblique stroke (slash) indicate the year.

2004, Trevor C. Hartley, European Union Law in a Global Context, page 18:


oblique dash

No punctuation has been inserted in the records of cases... The oblique dash in punctuation is freely used. Where it is used as a mere flourish in conjunction with other punctuation it has been ignored, where it terminates an entry the dash has been read as a full-stop, and where it occurs in the middle of an entry it has been read as a comma.

1934, E.E. Rich, The Staple Court Books of Bristol, page vi:

In (9.2) and in the following equations an oblique dash (/) before an index r denotes differentiation with respect to χᵣ.

1962, Giuseppe Grioli, Mathematical Theory of Elastic Equilibrium (Recent Results), page 132, n. 1

Where Moore's and Finzi's datings differ substantially, both are given, separated by an oblique dash, with Moore's first.

1985, Stephen Banfield, Sensibility and English Song, page 456:


virgil

An anglicization of French virgule, from Latin virgula.

There be five manner of points and divisions most used among cunning men; the which if they be well used, make the sentence very light and easy to be understood, both to the reader and hearer: and they be these, virgil,—come,—parenthesis,—plain point,—interrogative... it is a slender stroke leaning forward, betokening a little short rest, without any perfectness yet of sentence.

No points were used by the ancient printers, excepting the colon and the period; but, after some time, a short oblique stroke, called a virgil, was introduced, which answered to the modern comma.

1828, Richard Thomson, Illustrations of the History of Great Britain, Vol. II, page 145

Whoever introduced the several points, it seems that a full-point, a point called come, answering to our colon-point, a point called virgil answering to our comma-point, the parenthesis-points and interrogative-point, were used at the close of the fourteenth, or beginning of the fifteenth century.

1842, F. Francillon, An Essay on Punctuation, page 9:

Other Chaucerian manuscripts had the virgule (or virgil or oblique: /) at the middle of lines.

1990, John McDermott, Punctuation for Now, page 20:

(typography, UK, archaic) Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩.


full-point

(typography, obsolete) Synonym of full stop or period ⟨.⟩.


plain point

There be five manner of points and divisions most used among cunning men; the which if they be well used, make the sentence very light and easy to be understood, both to the reader and hearer: and they be these, virgil,—come,—parenthesis,—plain point,—interrogative.


parenthesis-point

(typography, obsolete) Synonym of parenthesis.


colon-point

(typography, obsolete) Synonym of colon ⟨:⟩.


interrogative-point

(typography, obsolete) Synonym of question mark ⟨?⟩.


comma-point

(typography, obsolete) Synonym of comma ⟨,⟩.


fraction bar

The fraction bar is a kerned character, so unlike the solidus it will not push the numerals away a full em space.

2006, Gavin Ambrose et al., The Fundamentals of Typography, page 74:

(typography, mathematics) The line separating the numerator from the denominator, whether horizontal, oblique, or diagonal.

дробна черта

line separating numerator from denominator

diagonal mark

as a diagonal line regardless of kerning


subjunctivize

en-verb

subjunctivize (third-person singular simple present subjunctivizes, present participle subjunctivizing, simple past and past participle subjunctivized)

subjunctivizes (present singular third-person)
subjunctivizing (participle present)
subjunctivized (participle past)
subjunctivized (past)

(literature) To treat or discuss in a hypothetical way, as something that could conceivably be the case.


homeset

homesets (plural)
home-set (alternative)
home set (alternative)

This carries b'ack face eight point heads in caps and lower case: since most papers today use this same style head for homeset short stories, the match is perfect.

1919, New York State College of Agriculture, The Service Sheet - Volumes 1-8, page 11:

If you use much plate matter, make your choice of homeset heads to match those on the plate matter.

1920, Cornell Extension Bulletin - Issues 41-70, page 29:

In the local newspaper office, the printer sprinkled the sheets with water to moisten them for the new impressions and with homeset type printed the rest of the paper.

2002, Charles Johanningsmeier, Fiction and the American Literary Marketplace, →ISBN, page 42:

(printing) The type used as a standard by a specific publisher.


cryobed

(science fiction) A bed-like unit in which a person can be cryogenically preserved.


French spacing

(typography) The archaic practice (though still current in French) of inserting a space around colons, semicolons, question marks and exclamation marks, and also two spaces between sentences.


shuttleport

(science fiction) A spaceport from which shuttles depart.


Earthport

(science fiction) A spaceport on the planet Earth.


double kill

double kill (third-person singular simple present double kills, present participle double killing, simple past and past participle double killed)

double kills (present singular third-person)
double killing (participle present)
double killed (participle past)
double killed (past)

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(fiction, transitive) To kill an already dead being, such as a ghost, a zombie, a skeleton, etc.


holonovel

(science fiction) A holographic entertainment akin to a novel.


holobook

(science fiction) A holographic entertainment akin to a book.


nameplay

en-noun

nameplay (countable and uncountable, plural nameplays)

(literature) A play on words involving the name of a person or thing.


veetol

commute by veetol over a thousand miles

1975, John Brunner, “In the Beginning was the Herd”, in The Shockwave Rider, Harper & Row, page 88:

(chiefly science fiction) Alternative form of VTOL.


succubitch

(fiction, rare, derogatory) A succubus who is a bitch (an irritating, disagreeable woman).


Ctrl-Alt-Delete

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Key combination of Ctrl, Alt and Delete. In many computer systems, this interrupts or shuts down the system or some part of it or opens up a shut-down menu.

Ctrl-Alt-Del (alternative)
Ctrl+Alt+Del (alternative)
Control-Alt-Delete (alternative)
Control+Alt+Delete (alternative)
ctrl-alt-delete (alternative)

(science fiction, sometimes humorous) Said by a sentient machine to express the desire to kill or destroy something or someone.


countertext

Alice Randall's novel "The Wind Done Gone" is a countertext to Margaret Mitchell's novel "Gone with the Wind".

(literature, social sciences) A text that opposes another, often by presenting similar events from a different perspective.


Antarian

(science fiction) Alternative form of Antarean.


Antarean

Antareans (plural)
Antarian (alternative)

(science fiction) A native or inhabitant of Antares.


santilmo

(folklore) A floating flame or fire ball, similar to a will o' the wisp, that stalk or chase people at night, believed to be the ignited blood of a person who met a tragic death.


holodisc

(science fiction) Alternative form of holodisk.


holotape

(science fiction) A tape used as a storage medium for holographic material.


wereanimal

A peculiarity of were-animals is the sympathy that exists between their animal form and that of the human with whom it is connected.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 121:

Lysander was speaking to a confused-looking wereanimal.

2011, Brit Mandelo, Though Smoke Shall Hide the Sun: A Tor.Com Original, Tor Books, →ISBN:

His otherworldly energy danced along my skin, and as had happened in New Mexico with a very different wereanimal, it called that piece of Richard's beast that seemed to live inside me. It brought that power in a rush down my skin, ...

2001, J. D. Robb, Laurell K. Hamilton, Susan Krinard, Maggie Shayne, Out of this World, Penguin, →ISBN:

“You're a fool, Todd. You didn't need anything to protect you,” Muriel said. “Ray was killed by a wereanimal.” “They have the wereanimal that killed Ray locked up. He can't hurt anyone anymore,” she said.

2020, Laurell K. Hamilton, Sucker Punch, Penguin, →ISBN, page 77:

(fiction) A shapeshifter that can change between human and some animal form, such as a werewolf or werebear.


hendecameter

(poetry, rare) A line of verse containing eleven metrical feet.


werecow

(fiction) A person who transforms into a cow or cowlike creature, like a werewolf transforms into a wolf or wolflike creature.


multifont

(computing, typography) Involving multiple fonts or typefaces.


logotypy

(typography) The use of logotypes or ligatures.


unfooted

an unfooted schwa


upmaker

(printing) A person employed to make up galley proofs in page mode.


Homo superior

/ˌhəʊməʊ suːˈpɪəɹi.ə(ɹ)/

From Latin homo superior (literally “superior human”), modeled after New Latin Homo sapiens (literally “wise human”). Coined by Olaf Stapledon in his novel Odd John: A Story Between Jest and Earnest (1935).

der

Homo Superior (alternative)
Homo superioris (alternative)

If this was the way of Homo superior, I said, thank God I was another species.

1935, Olaf Stapledon, Odd John, Gollancz, published 2012, page 159:

Magneto: "The first phase of my plan shall be to show my power... to make Homo sapiens bow to Homo superior!"

1963 September 10, Stan Lee, “X-Men”, in The X-Men, volume 1, number 1, page 11:

You gotta make way¶ for the Homo Superior

1971, “Oh! You Pretty Things”, in Hunky Dory, performed by David Bowie:

(science fiction) A species of man more advanced than Homo sapiens; a superhuman.


lakish

en-adj

lakish (comparative more lakish, superlative most lakish)

more lakish (comparative)
most lakish (superlative)

We have next ‘Playhouse Musings,’ by Mr Coleridge—a piece which is unquestionably Lakish—though we cannot say that we recognize in it any of the peculiar traits of that powerful and misdirected genius whose name it has borrowed.

1812 November, James, Horace Smith, “Rejected Addresses”, in The Edinburgh Review, page 445:

(literature) Characteristic of the Lake poets.


Wakanda

→ Indonesian: Wakanda

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1966. Most likely influenced by Bantu-language names like Uganda and Rwanda.

Waconda (alternative)
Wakonda (alternative)
Wakan Tanka (alternative)

(science fiction) A fictional wealthy country located somewhere in Africa that is the setting of several Marvel Comics arcs.


unitalicize

en-verb

unitalicize (third-person singular simple present unitalicizes, present participle unitalicizing, simple past and past participle unitalicized)

unitalicizes (present singular third-person)
unitalicizing (participle present)
unitalicized (participle past)
unitalicized (past)

He unitalicizes some italicized words, he changes 'woulds' to 'shoulds.'

(typography, transitive) To change (text) from an italic typeface to a non-italic typeface.


oldstyle

Books aimed at older and possibly vision impaired readers may have more difficulty with the generally lighter appearing transitional typefaces than they might with an oldstyle typeface.

2005, Pete Masterson, Book Design and Production: A Guide for Authors and Publishers:

A sentence set in an oldstyle serif and a similar-weight sans serif at the same point size will appear to be two different sizes.

2014, Timothy Samara, Design Elements, 2nd Edition:

(typography, often attributive) A traditional style of typeface designed to mimic the handwriting of scribes.


ultracondensed

(chiefly typography) Extremely condensed.


timequake

Or you can have a revisable universe with one timeline (see Hogan's Thrice Upon a Time or Milennium^([sic]) by (I think) Joe Haldeman for the general idea) and in which your actions can "rewrite" the past from that point on. Here, if you shoot your grandfather, you generate a "timequake" in which something ugly happens. Probably you disappear, but there may be other side-effects as the universe works it out, which is, I think, what you are reffering^([sic]) to as the "great expense".

1996 November 16, Mike Abernathy, “Re: faster than light travel”, in sci.physics.electromag (Usenet), message-ID <56la8t$5@sjx-ixn2.ix.netcom.com>:

Finding herself in the middle of a “timequake,” she discovers another world—an alternate universe. Will Mary find a way to return to the world she left?

2008, Deanna J. McDaniel, Gentle Reads: Great Books to Warm Hearts and Lift Spirits, Grades 5-9, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 217:

(science fiction) A disturbance in the flow of time.


Alpha Centaurian

en-noun

Alpha Centaurian (plural Alpha Centaurians)

(science fiction) A native or inhabitant of Alpha Centauri.


science faction

Blend of science fiction + science fact.


Winesburg

Originally named Weinsberg in 1829, after the town in Germany. It was renamed to Winesburg by postal authorities in 1833 when a post office was opened there.
The fictional town came from the name of the actual Ohio town.

(fiction) The town, named after the Holmes County town of the same name, but otherwise based on Clyde, Ohio, that serves as the setting of the novel Winesburg, Ohio.


chrismon

From Medieval Latin crismon (New Latin chrismus, chrismum, chrismos), of uncertain origin.
In the 18th century adopted in German as Chrismon or Chrismum, plural Chrismen. English in the 19th century.
The word was revived for a type of Christmas decoration in the mid 20th century, now with a popular etymology of its being a portmanteau of Christus + monogram.

The document usually begins with a verbal invocation (such as In Dei nomine, amen) or a chrismon (often Christ's monogram formed from the letters XP)

1970, Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 7, page 478:

(palaeography) A stylised siglum or character interpreted as an invocation of Christ in Merovingian and Carolingian documents.


neurotronic

(science fiction) Combining neural and electronic technologies.


stasis lock

Tec had already deepened the stasis in Uru's cage to keep him asleep, and now he put the ship in a stasis lock.

1976, J. O. Jeppson, Second Experiment, page 29:

I am speaking to the eight ships on the dessert on the planet Vood, which are now in energy stasis locks. I am representative of the Maitan Empire fleet, who have you under surveillance.

(machinery, especially science fiction) An induced state of suspension or inactivity.


degression

degression (countable and uncountable, plural degressions)

From Latin degressio, from degressus + -io (“forming abstract nouns from verbs”), past perfect participle of degredi (“to descend by steps”), from de- (“down”) + gradi (“to step, walk, go”).

The principle of degression... It may therefore be worth while to suggest four forms for the description of a book, showing by degressive changes what details may fairly be omitted in short descriptions.

1908, F. Madan in Transactions of the Bibliographical Society, number 9, page 53

(publishing) Degressive description, a system of varying descriptions of a book in accordance to its importance or available space.


felinoid

(science fiction) A member of a cat-like alien race.


Three Laws of Robotics

Coined by American science fiction author Isaac Asimov in 1942, introduced in his short story "Runaround".

coin

(science fiction, robotics) A set of rules governing the behavior of robots.


future history

en-noun

future history (countable and uncountable, plural future histories)

(the speaker is a time traveller from the future) Well, lad, I would tell you more, but that's just future history that you must figure out on your own.

(uncountable, chiefly science fiction, often humorous) Future events perceived or analyzed chronologically, as compared to history.


First Law of Robotics

Three Laws of Robotics
Three Laws of Robotics

(science fiction, robotics) One of the Three Laws of Robotics, forbidding a robot to harm a human, through either action or inaction.


Second Law of Robotics

First Law of Robotics
First Law of Robotics

(science fiction, robotics) One of the Three Laws of Robotics, requiring a robot to obey humans, unless it would conflict with the First Law of Robotics (which forbids a robot to harm a human).


Third Law of Robotics

(science fiction, robotics) One of the Three Laws of Robotics, requiring a robot to protect its own existence, as long as this does not conflict with the First Law (which forbids a robot to harm a human) or the Second Law (which requires robots to obey humans).


private-use character

private-use character (plural private-use characters)

(typography) A character whose use is defined by private users and companies rather than defined by a standard such as Unicode, and which therefore has no universally accepted meaning.


anger balloon

(comics) A balloon with a jagged outline, containing words angrily screamed by a character.


salesbot

(science fiction) A robot designed to sell goods or services.


3D print

en-verb

3D print (third-person singular simple present 3D prints, present participle 3D printing, simple past and past participle 3D printed)

3D prints (present singular third-person)
3D printing (participle present)
3D printed (participle past)
3D printed (past)

(printing, transitive) To use a 3D printer to make (a three-dimensional solid object) from a digital model.


Sol system

the Sol system (canonical)
Sol System (alternative)

Alliance Officer: This is a galaxy-wide alert for all human territories. Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett has declared Threat Condition Saber One.
Alliance Officer: Enemy presence confirmed in Sol system. Earth under Reaper attack. I say again: Reaper attack is underway.
Alliance Officer: [Static.] ...further instructions to follow on coded channel Crimson Tacit.
Alliance Officer: May God save us. [Static.]

2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Alliance S.O.S.:


romaction

Let's combine the action and the romance and make a romaction story.

2008, 52:48 from the start, in Bedtime Stories:

One wag has already named the offspring of this shotgun wedding: romaction.

2010 July 6, “How movies became love, camera, action”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:

Like the “romaction” genre that fuses relationships and car crashes (think “Date Night” and “Knight and Day”), hard-R comedies like “The Hangover,” “Bad Teacher” and last year’s “Ted” appeal both to young women and their male companions, a “two-quadrant” win that made studio suits swoon.

2013 June 20, Ann Hornaday, “Why the rom-com is almost extinct”, in The Washington Post:

They reject his suggestion, asking instead to hear a story of action and romance. Skeeter then tells them a "romaction story" about Ancient Greece featuring Skeetacus, the inventor of the X Games.

2013, Amie A. Doughty, "Throw the book away": Reading versus Experience in Children's Fantasy:


transmotivation

en-noun

transmotivation (countable and uncountable, plural transmotivations)

From trans- + motivation, coined by the scholar Gérard Genette.

(literature) The process of revising a fictional character's motivations to correspond to his/her actions.


participant evolution

(usually science fiction) The use of technology in a way expected to change the course of human evolution.


vertical line

(computing, typography) The vertical bar; |.


tubeway

As usual, he relished the order and tidiness of the Complex; the sterile unscented air, the empty white tubeways, the featureless blocks and cubes that lined the outer walls.

The piezoelectric pedestrian tubeways depicted for Shanghai 2121 will provide all-weather pedestrian transportation citywide.

2016, Alan Marshall, Ecotopia 2121: A Vision for Our Future Green Utopia in 100 Cities:

(science fiction) A system of interlinked tubes serving as a transport network.


hintable

(typography) Having support for hinting.


twintail

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

From twin + tail. Sense 2 is a calque of Japanese ツインテール (tsuintēru).

(fandom slang, chiefly anime and manga) Either of a pair of unbraided tails worn on the sides of the head; an unbraided pigtail.

(in the plural) A hairstyle with a pair of twintails; unbraided pigtails.


monorimed

(poetry) Alternative form of monorhymed.


Fournier point

(typography, historical) A former point size of about 11/864 French inches or (by 1799) 345 µm.


Truchet point

Established by the French clergyman Sébastien Truchet.

(typography, historical) A former point size of 1/144 of a French inch or 1/1728 of the royal foot.


Didot point

Established by François-Ambroise Didot in the 18th century.

(typography, historical) A former point size of 1/864 of the royal foot.


smoke proof

Progress was observed from time to time by holding the end of the punch in the sooty flame of a candle or lamp and by pressing it on slightly damp paper to make a smoke proof.

2009, James Mosley, edited by Michael F Suarez and Michael L Turner, The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain, vol. V, Cambridge, published 2014, page 171:

(typography, now chiefly historical) A temporary print made from a thin coating of carbon deposited on the punch surface by a candle flame, used in evaluating the progress of the design of the punch.


robopocalypse

It's not about that, Dante. It's about surviving. Pre-emptive measures to make sure we don't even get close to a robopocalypse.

2014, Anissa Belkadi, Miniature Mausoleums, page 279:

(science fiction, technology) An apocalypse (ending of the world) caused chiefly by robots.


solrise

(rare, science fiction) The time of day when Sol, the sun in the Solar System, appears to rise over a planet's horizon.


weregorilla

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a gorilla.


weredonkey

“Werehorse,” Gettyson said curtly. “There's no such things as weredonkeys.”

2011, Anthony Francis, “Blood Rock”, in The Skindancer Series, volume 2, Bell Bridge Books, →ISBN, page 36:

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a donkey.


weregoat

In the confusion, I manage to squeeze free between a mountain weregoat wrestling with a pygmy weremammoth and a Yoshi.

2015, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Feral Pride, Candlewick Press:

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a goat.


weremammoth

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a mammoth.


transcosmic

That shriek, and Noyes’s still-unbroken snore, are the last sounds I ever heard in that morbidity-choked farmhouse beneath the black-wooded crest of haunted mountain—that focus of transcosmic horror amidst the lonely green hills and curse-muttering brooks of a spectral rustic land.

1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 8, in The Whisperer in Darkness:

(science fiction, religion) Across or beyond the cosmos.


Smallville

(fiction) A fictional small town, frequently representing a backwater place of origin, usually a rural farming community in the United States


dayshield

dayshields (plural)
day-shield (alternative)

From day + shield. Compare also Old English dæġsċeald (“dayshield, screen”) of identical formation.

cog

The lamps overhead were beginning to dim; in a few minutes, the dayshields would slide back, revealing the transparent canopy and allowing the remote suns to peer in—dispassionate observers hidden behind the veils of distance.

Caleb continued to hold his gaze until the familiar grating of the dayshields lowering diverted his attention back over to the terrace doors.

The shelter of the day-shield moved across the heavens; the wise Lord had covered over the path of the sun with a sail in such a way that men dwelling on earth could not detect the mast-ropes, […]

2013, Samantha Zacher, Rewriting the Old Testament in Anglo-Saxon Verse:

“They used it but they had better weapons. Sunblades, lightspears, dayshields, armour made from sungold. They picked up the knowledge from the Angels of the Sun when they warred against the Old Ones in the Dawn Ages of the World.”

(chiefly science fiction, fantasy) A protection from daylight; a screen


Times New Roman

From Times (“name of a British newspaper”) + new + roman (“style of typeface”).

com

(typography) A serif typeface. Notably a default Windows font.


MUFI

Medieval Unicode Font Initiative
w:Medieval Unicode Font Initiative

(typography) Initialism of Medieval Unicode Font Initiative.


bioplague

(science fiction) A biologically engineered plague.


energon

/ˈɛnəɹd͡ʒɒn/

At the natural next step the man is not there either, but has been replaced by his constituent electrons and, I suppose, some vitons, energons, and one personalitron.

1938, Quarterly Review: A Journal of University Perspectives:

But if almost all energy of a material photon is contained within the copulons between its energons rather than in the energons themselves, this means that it loses its structure: the energons are barely still anything more than hollow sacks […]

2007, Niels Vandamme, Tempest - the Transition, page 153:

(science fiction) A proposed form of energetic particle.


plasticrete

(science fiction) A durable construction material.


microtypography

In the area of the typography, or to be more precise the microtypography – the details of how the signs and spaces relate – there was a chance to create something new.

2005 April 28, Mark Thomson, “Microtypography, Designing the new Collins dictionaries”, in Typotheque, retrieved 2016-11-26:

If you're not sure of how to use these, leave them until you have time to experiment; as your work becomes more refined, you will need to know how these microtypography defaults should be adjusted too. Do not use forced bold, italic, outline, […]

2011, Michael Harkins, Basics Typography 02: Using Type, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

Microtypography has to do with the details; setting the right glyph, getting the appropriate kerning and tracking, and making stylistic choices such as when to use small-caps. Micro techniques have received a lot of attention recently, […]

2013, Smashing Magazine, Various Authors, Typography Best Practices, Smashing Magazine, →ISBN:

(typography) Typography on a word or character level.


planetality

From planet + -ality from Latin planeta, planetes, from Ancient Greek πλανήτης (planḗtēs, “wanderer”).

der

He shifted his record board into the crook of his arm as he came up and punched for a new entry. "Name?" he said. "Place of departure? Planetality?

1980, Gordon R. Dickson, In Iron Years, →ISBN, page 38:

By 'static' above in describing the Sun Signs I mean that from a mundane view point the interactions between are relatively fixed (in a temporal sense), as opposed to the planetality archtypes which are constantly moving and interacting in different ways.

1996 June 13, Nicholas Lee, “Inter-religion relations - TAO/GOD same/different”, in alt.astrology (Usenet):

He doubted if half a dozen Irwadians had mastered it, yet the Irwadi branch of Interstellar Transfer Service was made up of seventy-five hyper space pilots-of-divers planetalities.

(science fiction, rare) Membership of a particular planet or moon, by origin, birth, naturalization, ownership, allegiance or otherwise.


superfight

Then back to a period of villain of the week, interrupting that with a superfight that created a new superheroine from an innocent bystander.

1998 August 2, Stephen B. Mann, “A long running superhero game”, in rec.games.frp.super-heroes (Usenet):

While seeking out Iron Man, she had her first superfight, little realizing her foe was the armored madman Dr. Doom, who was in the area on undisclosed business of his own.

2008, Scholastic Avengers Encyclopedia - Part 1, →ISBN:

It doesn't take the bad guys long to notice his efforts to save the humans below from the fallout of their superfight in the sky.

2013, Dan Margules, ScripTipps: Superman & Superman II:

(comics) A fight between a superhero and a supervillain.


imploder

Ship to ship actions once again became brutally short. Warhead designers quickly realized that they could change the compression pattern and sequence of the new gravitic imploders to somewhat shape the resulting release of radiation.

2011, David Weber, In Fire Forged: Worlds of Honor V:

(science fiction) A weapon or other device that causes implosion.


saturnian

en-adj

saturnian (comparative more saturnian, superlative most saturnian)

more saturnian (comparative)
most saturnian (superlative)


caseman

(typography, historical) A compositor; a typesetter.


tenson

Kolsen himself (op. cit., II, p. 16) remarks that it seems surprising that, at this early stage in a career which dated only from about 1165 (cf. Jeanroy, op. cit. II, p. 51, note 2), Giraut should address his interlocutor, Raimbaut, in the familiar second person in contrast with his much more formal manner a few years later in the tenson on trobar clus, placed by Pattison shortly before Christmas, 1170 (op. cit., p. 23). One may wonder why Giraut should write his part of the tenson with such deference to Raimbaut if they had met and written together as early as 1166.

1976, Peire Rogier, Derek E. T. Nicholson, The Poems of the Troubadour Peire Rogier, →ISBN, page 25:

Another type of medieval text that could highlight conflicting perspectives is the Provencal lyric form called the tenson. The tenson involves a dialogue between two voices that take turns discussing a subject, either in alternating stanzas or in two groups of stanzas that mirror each other in form. In most cases, the two halves of a tenson are attributed to different poets, who in effect engage in an exchange or debate that is then presented as a single work, creating a paradox of unity and difference, closure and inconclusiveness.

1998, Rosemarie Potz McGerr, Chaucer's Open Books: Resistance to Closure in Medieval Discourse, →ISBN:

In Gryll Grange, however, the tenson functions as the basis for the advancement of the plot (which is the production of an Aristophanic comedy) and characterises the continual debate between what is uttered (e.g^([sic]) the name Palestine Soup) and what is not uttered (the word-associational etymology that Dr. Opimian offers for the name).

2014, David Musgrave, Grotesque Anatomies: Menippean Satire since the Renaissance, →ISBN:

(poetry) A form of lyric poem used by troubadours in Provençal in which two voices present different sides of an argument, in alternate stanzas, lines, or groups of lines with identical structure.


nursebot

Small arms unwound from the nursebots and began to press nozzles and needles into Ramon's flesh.

2009, Peter F. Hamilton, Judas Unchained:

(science fiction) A robot that carries out nursing.


carnivalize

en-verb

carnivalize (third-person singular simple present carnivalizes, present participle carnivalizing, simple past and past participle carnivalized)

carnivalizes (present singular third-person)
carnivalizing (participle present)
carnivalized (participle past)
carnivalized (past)

From carnival + -ize, originating in translations of the writings of Russian critic Mikhail Bakhtin.

Gorenshtein carnivalizes Mother Russia herself and Ivanova carnivalizes love for Mother Russia.

1995, Ellen E. Berry, Genders 22: Postcommunism and the Body Politic, page 47:

The audience is then rapidly transported to the bizarre and excessively corporeal world of the forest people who, mostly misshapen, mute, and genetically deformed, nonetheless convey a tremendous vitality that carnivalizes classical form with formlessness.

1998, Helen Gilbert, Sightlines: race, gender, and nation in contemporary Australian theatre:

(transitive, literature) To subvert (mainstream assumptions or literary styles) through humour and chaos.


headstick

The sidesticks should be of the full length of the page, and abut against the headsticks on the outside of the form .

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

(printing, historical) A straight piece of furniture placed at the head of a form, between the chase and the type.


anti-villain

anti-villains (plural)
antivillain (alternative)

As much the anti-hero initially as Thorpe is anti-villain, Tinley's function in the first volume is to expose to Catherine various modes of triviality and affectation.

1994, Alistair M. Duckworth, The Improvement of the Estate: A Study of Jane Austen's Novels, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, page 95:

The rise of the anti-hero as the protagonist of much of modern fiction was accompanied by the rise of what one might call the “anti-villain,” ironically understood as more interesting than his heroic counterpart.

2019, Martin Jay, “Sociology and the Heroism of Modern Life”, in Warren Breckman, Peter E. Gordon, editors, The Cambridge History of Modern European Thought: Volume II, The Twentieth Century, Cambridge University Press, page 19:

(fiction) An antagonist who has or may have noble or honorable aims, but pursues them destructively.


Utopian

As unusual as these official games may appear, they constitute an integral part in teaching the machiavellian tactics which the Utopians proudly use in their foreign wars.

1998, Gerard B. Wegemer, Thomas More on Statesmanship:

(fiction) A person from Utopia, a fictional island possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system from Thomas More’s 1516 treatise of the same name.


wereghost

Hey, A long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, (...) long, long after the final, final, final, final, final, final, final, final, final, and final subsubchronon's superending, there were no more blood, bone, bonemarrow, organisms, cells, brains, skulls, or any sign of life or organisms, so a wereghost beat the last werewhore to the last droplet of blood's Sabbathless, Sabbathlike smithers.

2012, J.D. Melville, Herstory. The Second Released Norma Shearer Novel, Xlibris, →ISBN, section 64:

"After he hauls you off to the station and leaves me alone in this forsaken neighborhood, some wereghost will come along and tear me to bits."

2012, Lauren Bjorkman, Miss Fortune Cookie, page 147:

I had thought our last meeting had gone well, or as well as it could have with me strapped to a table about to be killed by my homicidal were-ghost uncle.

2015, Andy Goldman, The Fifth House. The Only City Left. Book two:

(fiction, rare) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a ghost.


weredingo

“Weredingos are crazy anyway,” Christian said.

2006, Kathy Love, I Only Have Fangs for You, Kensington Publishing, page 239:

(fiction, rare) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a dingo.


werehorse

“Werehorse,” Gettyson said curtly. “There's no such things as weredonkeys.”

2011, Anthony Francis, Blood Rock, Bell Bridge Books, →ISBN, page 36:

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a horse.


wereowl

1993, Patricia Kindl, Owl in Love, Graphia (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), →ISBN, page 42.
The garden of a wereowl at midnight makes a perilous salad bar.

There was a wereowl at school who was always complaining that the lights were too bright. Of course, if I'd been a wereowl, I wouldn't have needed to be here.

2017, Emily Martha Sorensen, Trials of a Teenage Werevulture, Emily Martha Sorensen:

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of an owl.


were-elephant

were-elephants (plural)
wereelephant (alternative)

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of an elephant.


wereelephant

(fiction) Alternative spelling of were-elephant.


wereboar

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a boar.


menk

Borrowed from Mansi (compare Northern Mansi менкв (menkv)).

This figure is called menk in Ob-Ugrian folklore and ritual.

1996, Anthropology & Archeology of Eurasia, page 79:

Although doors were jammed shut, the menk burst in with huge birch masks covered with hair made of hay.

1999, Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, The Tenacity of Ethnicity: A Siberian Saga in Global Perspective:

A new documentary, “Russian Yeti: The Killer Lives” airing June 1 on the Discovery Channel explores the remote possibility that a “menk” — the Russian^([sic – meaning Mansi]) word for Yeti — may have been responsible.

2014, “Mysterious Deaths Of College Students Blamed On ‘Russian Yeti’”, in Huffington Post:

(Russia, cryptozoology, folklore) An animal described by the Mansi as a "forest giant", with anatomical features similar to a yeti, said to live in the area of Khantia-Mansia, Russia.


werehuman

Zelf said, “I am a werehuman.” She sobbed as though there could be no greater shame on the face of the earth than this. Zev scratched his head. “A werehuman? What on earth is that?” Zelf took off the cowl that covered her face. The beautiful elfin face of a human female looked back at Zev, [...]. The only part of her that remained wolfish were her two furry ears. [...] Zelf said: "I turn into this monster very month - every time the moon hides his face I lose my wolfish loveliness and become this - […]"

2014, Robert Denethon, Steam Submarine Cryptoloup, Submarine Media Pty Ltd:

Just in case Lady Luck had not ignored her enough already, she was later on attacked by a vampire. […] As a wolf, she was bright. As a werehuman, her boosted IQ was rather low. So, yes, actually, Diz was not even a werewolf, and I probably […]

2014, W. Freedreamer Tinkanesh, Tales for the 21st Century, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 17:

"Bob is a werehuman," he explained. "Most of the time he's a cocker spaniel. But when the moon is full he turns into something sort of like a human being. It's very frightening for him." Bob whined in agreement.

2015, Bruce Coville, The Monsters of Morley Manor: A Madcap Adventure, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN:

(fiction) A shapeshifter, generally non-human (especially a wolf), who can assume the form of a human.


were-elf

While the Vamwelf were vampire were-elves, tall and slender.

2015, Horace S. Mallette, Hunters of Satan’s Monsters: Rise of the Rolling Calf, →ISBN:

2012, Candace Jane Kringle, North Pole High: A Rebel Without a Claus, elfpublished books
Maybe his elf hormones and human hormones had gotten all mixed up, turning him into a were-elf or something.

Out inside the works of some neurotic Bavarian cuckoo clock of a village, were-elves streaking in out of the forests at night to leave subversive handbills at door and window ...

2012, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, Penguin, →ISBN:

I destroyed all the / argillaceous menticidepires, menticidethropes, / wereelves, / weresprites, werebrownies, […]

2012, Jason Hurlburt, Beasts of Prey, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN:

(fiction, fantasy, rare) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of an elf.


xenologist

(science fiction) Someone whose field of study is xenology.

xénologiste

someone whose field of study is xenology


spacedive

spacedives (plural)
space dive (alternative)

(fiction) A skydive from outer space, usually an orbital drop or direct insertion from beyond orbit, complete with (re-)entry heating.


Algeresque

(literature) in the style of author Horatio Alger, typically of poor boys earning riches through wealthy benefactors.


hyperfield

It would take a phenomenally advanced technology to create that; but then, as we've all suddenly been granted superhuman powers, quantum hyperfield theory is the least of our problems.

2002 -, Peter F. Hamilton -, Misspent Youth:

The hyperfield itself could not be moved and remained there on the lava field suspended in the suds of the continuum at the exact point where the arc had entered the inertial frame of the Earth. Unless the titanohematite brain returned to that precise point where the connectionto 5-space waited, the hyperfield would weaken and in a few days smear away in the expansion of the universe.

2014, A.A. Attanasio, Arc of the Dream: Radix Tetrad, →ISBN:

The land was originally seeded for Prima Matra by those we call the 'Timewalkers' in conjunction with High Devas mythologically depicted as Unicorns. When the implosion occurred, the 'seed' material was heated, not only to very high levels, but in a contained hyperfield, which is created by two or more dimensions touching.

2015, Joyce Strahn, From Here to Ascension, →ISBN:

(science fiction) One of various fictional fields in which special physical properties are supported.


microformal

Other microformal characteristics also mark these traditional, oral tales, such as the absence of the necessary enjambment — the basic element is the line or the hemistich, as also in the romancero -- and what Parry calls the thrift of formulaic art ("each position in the verse tends to allow one way rather than many ways of saying any one thing" if we are speaking of a single bard), a quality also found in Hesiod.

1993, Claudio Guillén, The challenge of comparative literature - Volume 42, page 174:

Shakespeare's microformal analysis is the commensurate response to a world of forms emerging into and out of relation.

2010, Michael Carl Schoenfeldt, Michael Schoenfeldt, A Companion to Shakespeare's Sonnets, →ISBN, page 254:

Each of these pieces deals with the microformal elements of the text in ways that underpin my larger, structural argument about the imaginative effect of the text.

2015, Evelyn Reynolds, “Beowulf's Poetics of Absorption: Narrative Syntax and the Illusion of Stability in the Fight with Grendel's Mother”, in Essays in Medieval Studies, volume 31:

(literature, poetry) Pertaining to the characteristics and patterns of lines or phrases, as opposed to the structure of the entire work.


black lady

(Philippines, folklore) A ghost of a lady in black mourning clothes.


maqta

(poetry) The last couplet of a ghazal, typically incorporating the poet's pen name in a creative way.


silent h

Examples include the silent h in ghost (to match Dutch gheest, which later became geest), aghast, ghastly and gherkin.

2019, Carson Stewart, History of the English Language, page 178:

(orthography) A letter ⟨h⟩ that is written but not pronounced.


spacedrive

spacedrives (plural)
space drive (alternative)
space-drive (alternative)

(astronautics slang, science fiction) A non-Newtonian propulsion system (a drive that propels while violating the Newtonian law requiring an equal and opposite reaction to an action); a reactionless drive (a drive which does not use propellant).

impossible drive

A drive violating physics, such as Newton's Laws


off stone

From the time when type was set manually on a stone slab. When the stone was finally cleared, the print run could begin.

Sunday's first edition is off stone early on Saturday evening.

(journalism, typography) A newspaper's edition is ready to start printing.


wereman

“He's a wereman, my dear George; a wolf that becomes a man during the day.”

1962, Arthur Calder-Marshall, The Scarlet Boy:

The story concerns itself rather with a wereman, a wolf cursed with transformation into a man. A nude man is found in the wolf's cage of the zoo, with no knowledge of how he came there. He is taken to a hospital for examination, […]

1966, Drake Douglas, Horror!, New York: Macmillan:

“I'm a wereman, not a monkey.” “Oi! Robbins! I saw that!” They turned to see an elderly man striding across the courtyard, his face blanketed in a thick grey beard and moustache.

2012, Tom Becker, Darkside 5: Blackjack, Scholastic UK, →ISBN:

“The hat turned him into a wereman.” “Most dangerous werebeast of all. So it's said.”

2012, Graham Edwards, Dead Wolf in a Hat, 40K, →ISBN:

“Many vampires came, with a wereman in charge. They set fire to the house. Anna grabbed what she could, and Rip teleported her to safety. Levi fought the wereman, but he lost.” Her voice faltered.

2013, Tara Fox Hall, Immortal Confessions, A Promise Me Origins Tale, →ISBN, page 156:

(fiction) A shapeshifter, generally non-human (especially a wolf), who can assume the form of a man.


'vator

(chiefly science fiction) Abbreviation of elevator.


LIA

LIAs (plural)
L.I.A. (alternative)
L. I. A. (alternative)

(military fiction) Initialism of lost in action.


LIA

L.I.A. (alternative)
L. I. A. (alternative)


Orion drive

en:Orion drive
en:Project Orion (nuclear propulsion)

From Orion + drive, since it originated from Project Orion, a U.S. government study from the 1950s.

(astronautics, science fiction) A theoretical means to propel spacecraft through space, by detonating nuclear bombs behind the spaceship and riding the nuclear explosions that push against the rear mounted pusher plate.


batchim

batchims (plural)
batchim (plural)
patchim (alternative)

(orthography) The final consonant (or consonant cluster) at the end of a Korean syllable.


tightbeam

tightbeams (plural)
tight-beam (alternative)
tight beam (alternative)

“Do I have those tightbeams yet?” “We're acknowledged and pending, sir,” Chen said. “They know we want to talk.”

2013, James S. A. Corey, Abaddon's Gate:

(science fiction) A focused beam of energy (such as a laser) that contains and transmits information.


Earthboy

(usually science fiction) A young male inhabitant of Earth.


Earth day

(science fiction) A day in Earth time; the period it takes planet Earth to revolve once; a period of 24 hours.


left-justified

(typography) Of text, laid out so that the left ends of lines are vertically aligned, leaving the right ends unaligned.


right-justified

(typography) Of text, laid out so that the right ends of lines are vertically aligned, leaving the left ends unaligned.


nature faker

(literature, derogatory) A nature writer who misrepresents animals as having thoughts and feelings similar to those of humans.


hanging indentation

en-noun

hanging indentation (plural hanging indentations)

hanging indentations (plural)
hanging indent (alternative)

(typography) An indentation that indents the rest of the text while leaving the first line in place.


weretroll

“This is ingenious,” I told the weretroll. “I'm amazed!”

2008, A. Bradbury, Tablets of Immortality, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN:

“Here,” said The Grunt, “have the boogies back. I'm gonna be the weretroll! You can have the bottle of snot back too.”

2010, tracey Corderoy, The Grunt and the Grouch: Beastly Feast, Capstone, published 2012, →ISBN, page 48:

(fiction, rare) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a troll.


weredwarf

weredwarfs (plural)
were-dwarf (alternative)

(fiction, rare) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a dwarf.


robotess

(science fiction, dated) A robot designated female; a gynoid.


teep

He was conscious that the Directorate's teep Corps was close by; he didn't particularly want his intimate thoughts in the hands of eighty bored telepaths.

What are you doing, bringing a teep here when we're ready to move?

1997 June 9, Straczynski, Joseph Michael, “The Face of the Enemy”, in Babylon 5, season 4, episode 17, spoken by Number One (Marjorie Monaghan):

She didn't need to be a teep to know what he was thinking.

2011, Nate Kenyon, StarCraft: Ghost—Spectres, →ISBN, page 16:


teep

en-adj

teep (comparative more teep, superlative most teep)

more teep (comparative)
most teep (superlative)

He broke off, because one of the QCA men was bringing out a teep rod, a receptor that would pick up and record his thoughts for police inspection.

1969, Philip K. Dick, Galactic Pot-Healer:

(science fiction) Relating to telepathy.


teep

en-verb

teep (third-person singular simple present teeps, present participle teeping, simple past and past participle teeped)

teeps (present singular third-person)
teeping (participle present)
teeped (participle past)
teeped (past)

Irritated, Benteley answered, "You're being teeped while you stand here. Verrick has them planted all over the place."

Heads up everyone. Mantis is teeping into our poor tired brains.

2008 August 7, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, “Legacy”, in Guardians of the Galaxy, volume 2, number 2, page 18:


bodyjack

bodyjack (third-person singular simple present bodyjacks, present participle bodyjacking, simple past and past participle bodyjacked)

bodyjacks (present singular third-person)
bodyjacking (participle present)
bodyjacked (participle past)
bodyjacked (past)

My accent may be Brooklyn, not the BBC, pal, but I still got a brain in my head. We've been bodyjacked. Some kind of mind-switch—yours to our bodies, ours ta yours. No offense but this ain't exactly the first time we've been cut loose in that particular neighborhood.

1998 November 7, Chris Claremont, “The First The Final? Fire!”, in Fantastic Four, volume 3, number 11, page 17:

This sounds like a spinoff of "The Boys From Brazil"—until about page 70, when D.T. reveals that he's actually a devil who'd bodyjacked an SS officer.

2007 January 15, “The Devil Wears Swastikas”, in Newsweek, page 66:

I'm not a big fan, however, of the daleks stealing the Cyberman's bodyjacking schtick, and I thought the hybrid looked embarrassingly silly.

2007 April 22, Scott Bennie, “Re: Daleks In Manhattan”, in rec.arts.drwho (Usenet), retrieved 2017-03-31, message-ID <1177302553.825978.79940@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>:

Then I did something that astonished both of us: I took control of our body. […] What are you doing? demanded Seymour. Where are you going? This is my body. Give it back! […] I've been bodyjacked! accused Seymour.

2014, Bruce Coville, Aliens Stole My Body, →ISBN, page 24:

(science fiction) To forcibly seize control of someone's body, sometimes by replacing or exchanging minds.


predatory journal

en-noun

predatory journal (plural predatory journals)

(publishing) A publishing outlet that poses as a reputable academic journal, but will publish anything submitted for a fee.


setting rule

(printing, historical) Synonym of composing rule.


Maycomb

Bryan K. Fair (University of Alabama) published Using Parrots to Kill Mockingbirds: Yet Another Racial Prosecution and Wrongful Conviction in Maycomb, 45 Alabama Law Review 403 (1994);

1989, Association of American Law Schools. Section on Minority Groups, Newsletter, page lxii:

In the excerpt from Snapple's novels given here, the sequence of spaces juxtaposes middle-class ladies condemning the squalid lives of Africans, to the squalid lives of White trash in Maycomb, to the condemning values of Mr. Daley about his hillbillies, to Calpurnia's option that "Yo're no better than others." to the disgrace of Indians in the Gallup Rodeo

1999, Scott Lloyd DeWitt, Kip Strasma, Contexts, Intertexts, and Hypertexts, →ISBN, page 86:

In his essay on the Maycomb model, Elias claims that the ubiquitous desire for the aggrandizement of one's own group in relation to the deprecation of other groups is based on fear, the fear of enslavement, of exploitation or physical extinction, and that the ensuing rivalries among groups are not just byproducts but rather a basic structural feature of human figurations.

2011, Christa Buschendorf, Astrid Franke, Civilizing and Decivilizing Processes, →ISBN, page 244:

(fiction) The fictional small Alabama town that serves as the setting of Harper Lee's 1960 novel To Kill A Mockingbird, as well as the 1962 film of the same name that is based on this novel.


artificial stupidity

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

By analogy with artificial intelligence.

artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence#English

(humorous, artificial intelligence, computing, science fiction) Artificial intelligence that is not well developed.


artificially intelligent

en-adj

artificially intelligent (comparative more artificially intelligent, superlative most artificially intelligent)

more artificially intelligent (comparative)
most artificially intelligent (superlative)

artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence#English

(artificial intelligence, computing, science fiction) Possessing artificial intelligence.


kuudere

Borrowed from Japanese クーデレ (kūdere), a portmanteau of クール (kūru, “calm”), from English cool, and デレデレ (dere-dere, “in a lovey-dovey, infatuated, or lovestruck manner”, adverb).

True, she wasn't very expressive—or anyway, I didn't feel like I saw a lot of emotion from her—but if I thought of her as a kuudere, or one of those “weird girl” types, that could actually be seen as a positive.

2018, Ichiro Sakaki, translated by Kevin Steinbach, Outbreak Company, volume 5, unnumbered page:

The cool and tough exterior she displays makes for a good kuudere, and the blue eyes and silver hair already sets her up for the role in the Clannad series.

2018, "Moogle", "Cool As Rain", Otakuzine Anime Magazine, Issue #121, page 40

Her words were as cool as ever, but there was a hint of embarrassment in her voice. Could she be one of those “kuuderes” I'd heard so much abou

2021, Rifujin na Magonote, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, Volume 11, unnumbered page:

(chiefly Japanese fiction) A calm, aloof, reserved fictional character (usually a girl) who has a hidden soft side, especially for a love interest.


lekythion

lekythia (plural)
lecythion (alternative)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ληκύθιον (lēkúthion, “small oil-flask”), in reference to a passage in Aristophanes' comedy The Frogs.

bor

(poetry) In classical Greek and Latin poetry, a metric pattern defined by a sequence of seven alternating long and short syllables at the end of a verse.


Transformer

Transformers (plural)
TFormer (alternative)
Tformer (alternative)
T-former (alternative)
T-Former (alternative)
tformer (alternative)
t-former (alternative)

/tɹɑːnsˈfɔːmə/

From transformer (something that transforms).

“It's like a Transformer today,” Stamm said. “It appears as one thing, then becomes another.”

2015, Steve Berry, The Patriot Threat: A Novel, page 304:

A Transformer may be both a robot and a plane, or a robot and a car, but not both simultaneously.

2014, Barbara Brownie, Transforming Type: New Directions in Kinetic Typography, page 95:

Halloween? I dressed up as a Transformer. I dressed up as a Power Ranger. I was one of the Chipmunks for God's sake.

(fiction) In the Transformers franchise, any of the alien humanoid robots that can mechanically alter their appearance, or "transform", into a vehicle, creature, or (rarely) a tool.


xenonatomy

Until yesterday, McCoy had been teaching a course in Xenoanatomy at the Starfleet medical school on Prima, parsecs away.

The argument was that decisions had to be made by someone who was not herself a specialist, so she wouldn't give preferential treatment to xenoanatomy or linguistics or whatever. Martian cuisine.

I took a course in xenoanatomy. We dissected a variety of human corpses.

“I didn't know you were all up on xenoanatomy.” “I'm not.” Ressk set the blade above the uppermost hole in the skull and began to draw the saw back and forth. It caught on the desiccated flesh, bucked, then bit into bone.

(science fiction) The study of alien anatomy.


xenotechnology

en-noun

xenotechnology (usually uncountable, plural xenotechnologies)

And the Yard would most likely become the very center of Starfleet's xenotechnology studies. “An intriguing proposal,” said Spock. Bishop pointed to the space station nearest them.

2006, Marco Palmieri, Star Trek: The Original Series: Constellations Anthology:

You can parade the Navy and the Union Earth Colonies around in front of congress and parliament and the Chinese president, but at the end of the day it's xenotechnology that keeps us in the black.

(chiefly science fiction) Alien, extraterrestrial technology.


xenotech

You can parade the Navy and the Union Earth Colonies around in front of congress and parliament and the Chinese president, but at the end of the day it's xenotechnology that keeps us in the black. It's xenotech that keeps us from getting ...

(rare, informal, science fiction) Clipping of xenotechnology.


xenobotany

An oddly lucid part of his stunned mind registered that these were the first fruiting bodies he'd seen. But this was hardly the time for exercising one of the specialties that had got him onto the intercept ship, xenobotany.

2008, Eric Flint, Dave Freer, Slow Train to Arcturus:

Terrell quipped to the new tactical officer, “He also holds doctorates in archaeology and xenobotany. So, if you get the urge to debate him about fossils or flowers . . . don't.”

2012, David Mack, Star Trek: Vanguard: Storming Heaven:

(science fiction) The study of alien plants.


xenogeography

He found the relaxed atmosphere fresh and exciting and actually began to excel in many areas of flight systems, propulsion, and even xenogeography.

2009, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Nightsword: A Starshield Novel:

“Like a lot of kids, I wanted to be an exploration spacer, so I got my Blevel certificate in xenogeography. Once I actually met some of them, though, I couldn't see being stuck on a ship with a bunch of arrogant wankers for years at a time.

2016, Carol Van Natta, Pico's Crush: Central Galactic Concordance, Book 3:

(rare, science fiction) The study of exoplanet geography.


xenophysics

Stormchases had always had an interest in xenophysics. He felt his wings furl with shock as he realised that the object might show that heatpattern if it had warmed its belly with friction as it entered the atmosphere, but the upper part were still ...

2012, Jonathan Strahan, Hannu Rajaniemi, Pat Cadigan, Edge of Infinity:

Xenophysics, especially at this level, were not his strong suit. But you didn't go about busting artefact smugglers for a decade without learning something.

I graduated top of my class in Xenophysics and have been pushing for missions ever since.' Mark found her story slightly embarrassing. In some ways, she'd had it harder than him.

(rare, science fiction) The study of extraterrestrial physics.


xenochemistry

The engineering scale shows “simple copy” at the biological “system or structure” level down to “xenochemistry of engineered systems” at the “molecular level.”

2012, Norman M. Wereley, Janet M. Sater, Plants and Mechanical Motion: A Synthetic Approach to Nastic Materials and Structures:

(rare, science fiction) The study of extraterrestrial chemistry.


xenomedicine

There had been people studying xenomedicine in the same class as the two of them who turned out not to have been particularly well fitted for it. Well, he thought, better they should find out in training, rather than in practicing on a patient.

You seem to be the first person in the history of xenomedicine who's simply been bitten by a yagghorth instead of disassembled into component pieces.”

“I understand, Tobin. Being joined is a great responsibility.” Dax stared, flushing with panic. “You . . . you know?” “Don't look so surprised. I'm an expert in xenomedicine and I've been around the quadrant once or twice.

2015, Christopher L. Bennett, Rise of the Federation: Uncertain Logic:

(science fiction, rare) The study and practice of medicine involving alien species.


xenopathology

/zɛnəpəˈθɒləd͡ʒi/

“I just completed my boards in theoretical xenopathology. You really should have been at the graduation party.

... being able to deal with battlefield injuries, were also expert in specific fields: xenopathology, bioweapons and battlestress analysis. And so it went. All carried laser carbines, grenades, missile launchers, mines—a whole panoply of death.

oo bad M'Benga is still attending that xenopathology conference on Samaritan Station, McCoy thought. We could use another MD at the moment.

2013, Greg Cox, Star Trek: The Original Series: The Weight of Worlds:

Of course she wouldn't, or Dr. Bonn, her redundancy. Xenopathology and emergency medicine are more practical.

2015, C. Gockel, Murphy's Star: A Story of First Contact:

(science fiction, rare) The study of the nature of disease and its causes, processes, development, and consequences among different sentient species of the galaxy.


xenomythology

/zɛnəmɪˈθɒləd͡ʒi/

KaFrahkan was no student of xenomythology, but his intelligence briefing on the Humans had told him the origin of the name, and he found it grimly appropriate as he watched the massive, heavily armored giants grinding into position.

2005, David Weber, Keith Laumer, Old Soldiers:

Did you know that my first degree was in xenomythology?' 'I did not. Please continue.' 'The volcryn story was among the Nor T'alush myths.

2008, George R.R. Martin, Dreamsongs: A RRetrospective:

(science fiction, rare) The study of myths and legends of alien species.


xenohistory

“He is a specialist in xenohistory and has recently written a paper on the Terran system and human social interactions.” “Doctor,” To'Jopeviq said, nodding his head. “Any initial thoughts?”

Xenohistory and sociology was her passion and it was rare that she was given a chance to explore it.

(science fiction, rare) The study of alien history.