stardrive

From star + drive.
From the ability of the drive to propel the vehicle to the stars.

Stardrive section of a Galaxy-class starship.
Memory Alpha, Secondary hull, 2005

Atlantis, utilizing its star drive, was able to travel from the Milky Way Galaxy to the Pegasus Galaxy, a distance of between 3.26 and 3.5 million light years.
GateWorld, Stardrive

Scorpio is damaged in a collision course with a asteroid and the Scorpio crew require a star-drive from Federation scientist Dr. Plaxton so they can out-run all Federation pursuit ships
IMDB, "Stardrive"

Nebula moved back to her main console and looked to the stardrive unit's monitors immediately discovering the grim truth.
iUniverse, "The Godmaker Legacy: The Derelict: A Novel", Kirkland D. Casey, 2003, pp.171, →ISBN

The StarDrive was discovered on the planet Centaurus
NESFA Hymnal, "Reminder", B. Coulson, 1976, pp.12

no star drive yet devised could produce that kind of acceleration
"Orbitsville Departure", B. Shaw, 1983, pp.190

Every race they met on their way through the Core had a 'star drive based on a different theory.
"Light", M.J. Harrison, 2002, pp.135

The voice of the Organic Computer began counting down the seconds until the star drive was cut
Amazing Stories, "We All Died At Breakaway Stations", B.C. Meredith, 1969

Man's horizons exploded to the rims of the universe with the perfection of the star drive
Astounding SF, "Blood's Rover", C. Oliver, 1952

They'll know the principles of the star drive in a few more generations
Astounding SF, "Genius", P. Anderson, 1948

We will have to wait until they move off. I should be able to calculate their direction and get a rough idea of the distance from the power signature when they activate their Stardrive
Aliens, "Guardian Generations", Clive Osborne Rapley, 2010, pp.67, →ISBN

When they engaged the Star Drive to escape, the hunter mine had closed to ninety metres, inside the Star Drive's field of influence.
Trafford Publishing, "Origin: The Heritage Files - Phase One", Roger Hydes, 2008, →ISBN

—or century: humans can endure star-drive!
Arc Manor, "The Colors of Space", Marion Zimmer Bradley, 2008, pp.97, →ISBN

He was also beginning to lose faith that the recently recovered and bizarrely incoherent Ehrehin was really capable of delivering a working singularity- powered stardrive prototype any time in the foreseeable future.
Simon and Schuster, "The Star Trek: Enterprise: The Good That Men Do", Andy Mangels, Michael A. Martin, 2007, pp.434, →ISBN

Whatever kind of creatures they were, and whatever the disaster that threatened their planet, they had a star-drive to take them out of the solar system to another star.
Prologue Books, "Scavengers in Space", Alan E. Nourse, 2013, →ISBN

What could be gleaned from study of the landing craft was as far from the stardrive as their first steam engine had been from that spaceship itself; there was no chance of premature contact with other races.
"The Far Side of Evil", Sylvia Louise Engdahl, 1989, pp.158

(science fiction) a device used to propel a spacecraft through interstellar distances


bioreading

(science fiction) A measurement of the presence and properties of a living thing.


holorecording

(science fiction) A holographic recording.


gentlebeing

From gentle + being, modelled on gentleman.

Ladies and gentlebeings, let me introduce to you Doctor N'looma and her assistant L'raan, the Yularians who, along with other medical staff, were instrumental in giving me a new lease on life!

2016, James R. Lane, Last Dance of the Phoenix, page 204:

(science fiction, usually in the plural, sometimes humorous) Polite term of address for any sentient being, human or otherwise.


starfighter

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

(science fiction) A fictional type of spacecraft that is intended to be used like a fighter plane in outer space.


starcruiser

(science fiction) A spaceship analogous to a cruiser.


antinovelistic

en-adj

antinovelistic (comparative more antinovelistic, superlative most antinovelistic)

more antinovelistic (comparative)
most antinovelistic (superlative)

(literature) Of or relating to an antinovel.


antiacceleration

antiacceleration (comparative more antiacceleration, superlative most antiacceleration)

more antiacceleration (comparative)
most antiacceleration (superlative)

(science fiction) Preventing or counteracting acceleration.


antiepic

John Lewkenor, for example, challenges Virgil and the hierarchies of epic in a Petronius-style antiepic.

2008, Tanya Caldwell, Virgil Made English, page 124:

(literature) A literary work challenging the conventions of the epic.

antiépico

a literary work challenging the conventions of the epic


antiepic

antiepic (comparative more antiepic, superlative most antiepic)

more antiepic (comparative)
most antiepic (superlative)

(literature) Challenging the conventions of the epic.


antipastoral

antipastoral (comparative more antipastoral, superlative most antipastoral)

more antipastoral (comparative)
most antipastoral (superlative)

(literature, sociology) Eschewing pastoral literary themes and conventions.


antipastoral

(literature) A work that eschews pastoral literary themes and conventions.


fleshling

(fantasy, science fiction, derogatory) A creature made of flesh; a human being.


werejackal

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the shape of a jackal.


hypertravel

(science fiction) travel through hyperspace


secretary hand

en-noun

secretary hand (countable and uncountable, plural secretary hands)

It is written in three different Secretary hands: the first finishing at stanza 9 but with stanzas unnumbered,[…].

1961, Bernard Mellor, The Poems of Sir Francis Hubert, page 280:

When Mercy Harvey advised the nobleman to imitate her handwriting, she specified that he should write the address on the outside of the letter in "a small raggid secretary hand."

1998, Eve Rachele Sanders, Gender and Literacy on Stage in Early Modern England, page 173:

There are five scribes, all using variations on Secretary hands consistent with the third quarter of the fifteenth century.

2004, “Introduction”, in Stephen H. A. Shepherd, editor, Turpines Story, page xvi:

While originating at the end of the medieval period, the secretary hand was not widely employed until the early modern period, by which time it had completely displaced the earlier court hands.

2004, “Introduction”, in Helen Ostovich, Elizabeth Sauer, editors, Reading Early Modern Women: An Anthology of Texts in Manuscript and Print, 1550 - 1700, page 7:

Most authors, including dramatists, used both a separate secretary and an italic hand; in many cases the secretary hand was used for composing (that is, cursive or fluent) writing and italic for more formal copying.

2006, Grace Ioppolo, Dramatists and Their Manuscripts in the Age of Shakespeare, Jonson, Middleton and Heywood, page 84:

(historical, calligraphy) A style of handwriting developed in Europe and used during the 16th and 17th centuries for writing English, German, Welsh and Gaelic; a variety of this style.


chancery hand

It begins like a transcript, at the top of the page, without the least appearance or form of an intended original : it is written in the common secretary hand of ,the age, which Crawford mistook for a chancery hand;[…].

1819, Malcolm Laing, The History of Scotland, volume 1, page 373:

Her name, from Crawford's example of it, seems to me to be written in the same chancery hand, which renders the supposed forgery a mere copy, mistaken by Welwood for the original.

1830, John Pinkerton, The Literary Correspondence of John Pinkerton, Esq., volume 2, page 112:

But, unlike his posterity, Hercolani did not carry this sort of pleasantry too far, and his book remains a splendid specimen of the late chancery hand distinguished by decorative treatment of the ascenders and descenders and a discreet flourishing of initial and terminal letters.

2009, Stanley Morison, Selected Essays on the History of Letter-forms in Manuscript and Print, page 165:

(calligraphy, historical) Either of two styles of handwriting: a written form of black letter used in France and England from about 1350, developed in the Lateran chancelry in the 13th century, or a style of cursive handwriting introduced in the 1420s by Niccolò de' Niccoli, developed from humanist minuscule; a variety of either of these styles.


holovision

They'll be materializing before them in the special reception chambers, transmitted by way of the wires and beams, and reproduced by the three-dimensional holovision system in all their natural solidity.

1968, Michael Frayn, A Very Private Life, Collins, page 4:

But pass up the sci-fi stuff for now, like for instance the holovision technology that's put TV and radio in museums.

1973 October, James Tiptree, Jr., “The Girl Who Was Plugged In”, in Robert Silverberg, editor, New Dimensions 3, page 81:

Flinging open the control booth door, he sprinted around the carpeted perimeter behind the array of holovision cameras.

2003 February 1, William Walling, Triage, Virtualbookworm.com, →ISBN:

(science fiction) holographic television


dirtside

Many spacers hated leaving port – any port – and so spent as much time dirtside as possible. One evening, all three of these factors lined up in my favor. Kelly and John were dirtside, keeping an eye on Boris and the auctioneer, and Captain Gus was topside, supervising loading of supplies. Our new crewmembers were still dirtside as well, partying before shipping out.

(science fiction) On the surface of a planet or moon (i.e. not in space)


dirtsider

He really hadn't been in space before. You can always tell a dirtsider by the twinkle in their eyes at the idea of seeing their planet from above.

1998, Jerry Oltion, Where Sea Meets Sky, Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 23:

So you tell me, Senyor Parrige, how many habitats would be willing to take on their maximum possible population load in the form of half-starved, uneducated, indigent, disease-ridden dirtsiders who know nothing of habitat life and have no skills that are of much use in space?

2001, Roger MacBride Allen, The Depths of Time, Random House, →ISBN, page 378:

As a dirtsider, the idea of dying in the cold of space terrified him, though he'd never admit it to his space-loving mate.

2010, Shayla Kersten, Angel Moon, Ellora's Cave, →ISBN, page 52:

(science fiction, often derogatory) Someone who lives on the surface of a planet or moon, as opposed to in space.


fragmentism

(literature) An Italian literary movement, from the period just before the First World War, characterised by the use of short pieces of dramatic prose and fragmentary images


Galactic

The sepoy spoke again. The meaning of the words finally penetrated. Oddly, Agayan was surprised more by the fact of those words than their actual content. He had not realized that Gha could speak Galactic beyond a few crude and simple phrases.

2001, Eric Flint, “Carthago Delenda Est”, in Foreign Legions, Riverdale, N.Y.: Baen Books, →ISBN, page 253:

universal language
universal language#Noun

(science fiction, fantasy) Denoting the name of a universal language spoken throughout a galaxy in various works.


Carolingian minuscule

Carolingian minuscule (usually uncountable, plural Carolingian minuscules)

The Carolingian minuscule, which we have already found brought to perfection at Tours and at other centres of France, was the literary hand of the Frankish Empire, and extended its influence and was gradually adopted in neighbouring countries.

1912, Edward Maunde Thompson, An Introduction to Greek and Latin Palaeography, published 2013, page 403:

The Carolingian empire did not endure past the 9th century; yet Carolingian minuscule survived in France well into the 12th century, as it continued to be the preferred style of writing in monastic book production.

1995, William W. Kibler, editor, Medieval France: An Encyclopedia, page 1304:

Later Merovingian hands, however, often from Italy and drawing heavily from half uncials, prefigured the later Carolingian minuscule and achieved a certain graceful legibility.

2001, Steven Roger Fischer, History of Writing, published 2003, page 247:

(calligraphy, historical) A script developed to standardise writing in the Latin alphabet throughout the Holy Roman Empire, used between approximately 800 and 1200 CE.

Written in black ink in Carolingian minuscules, holdings are identified by reference to the vill in which they were situated and their assessment is noted, whilst the lord in 1086 is indicated by an interlineation in red in the same hand.

2000, David Roffe, Domesday: The Inquest and the Book, page 85:

(calligraphy, usually in the plural) A character written in the script.


antigraviton

(chiefly science fiction) The hypothetical antipartner of a graviton.


elf arrow

From the folk belief that they were used by elves.

When they want beef or mutton on any festal occasion, they betake themselves to the Shetlanders' scatkolds or townmails, and with elf-arrows bring down their game.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 262:

(folklore, fantasy) A magical arrow (weapon) used by elves or other mythological beings.


Leonine verse

Leonine verse (countable and uncountable, plural Leonine verses)

(poetry) A kind of medieval Latin verse, generally alternative hexameter and pentameter, with rhyming at the middle and end of a line (that is, internal rhyme); also, the form of such verse.


photobank

No selenium, no photo-cell banks. No photobanks – well, death by slow broiling is one of the more unpleasant ways of being done in.

(science fiction) A bank of photoelectric cells.


ornithoid

(science fiction, fantasy) Any bird-like creature.


male rhyme

male rhyme (countable and uncountable, plural male rhymes)

(poetry) A rhyme in which only the last syllable agrees, as in "laid", "afraid", "dismayed".


happy ever after

happy ever after (plural happy ever afters)

(authorship) A happy ending; a good fate, life, or ending to a story.


Perdita

Named after the daughter of Leontes and Hermione in William Shakespeare's play The Winter's Tale; from Italian perdita (“loss”).

(literature) A character in Shakespeare's play The Winter's Tale.


pressor beam

From press + -or and beam. Analogous to "presser beam", a beam that presses, as the inverse of tractor beam. Coined by American science fiction author E. E. Smith in 1931 in his novel Spacehounds of IPC, first serialized in Amazing Stories.

coin

Onward and upward flashed the gigantic duplex cone, its entire whirling mass laced and latticed together—into one mammoth unit by green tractor beams and red pressors.

1931 September, E. E. "Doc" Smith, “Spacehounds of IPC”, in Amazing Stories, volume 6, number 6, page 560:

By the way they're braced, there are tractor beams and pressor beams and—there are vacuum tubes that have grids but apparently work with cold cathodes.

1945 June, Murray Leinster, “The Ethical Equations”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 35, number 4, page 122:

A pressor beam lashed out, and invisible hammer blow of repulsion, five times the strength of the enemy tractor.

1956 September, Poul Anderson, “Margin of Profit”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 58, number 1, page 58:

(science fiction) A device that generates a beam that repels other objects; or the beam itself.


repulsor beam

From repulse + -or and beam, a beam that repulses.

Installed at the center of mass and set to repulsor-beam, this one would be able to move the entire planetoid from its orbit.

1958 November, Poul Anderson, “A Bicycle Built for Brew”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 62, number 3:

Hooked my model tractor beam into ship's power. Now it's a repulsor beam too. Want in?

1987, Dorothy Catherine Fontana, “The Naked Now”, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1, episode 3, spoken by Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton):

I always wondered how cloud city in ESB stay afloat and does not fall? Is it some kind of repulsor beam, or what?

1995 July 15, Umut Nurkan, “How does cloud city float?”, in rec.arts.sf.starwars (Usenet), message-ID <1995Jul14.190422.22468@hobbes.kzoo.edu>:

No, that indicates a cloaked Romulan vessel with a repulsor beam.

2008 February 20, Iarnrod, “Re: WTC Towers: The case for controlled demolition”, in alt.conspiracy (Usenet):

(science fiction) A device that emits an energy beam capable of pushing away other objects.


presser beam

We'll have them in three days, and it ought to be fairly simple to dope out the opposite of a tractor, too—a pusher or presser beam.

1931 September, E. E. "Doc" Smith, “Spacehounds of IPC”, in Amazing Stories, volume 6, number 6, page 544:

(science fiction) Alternative form of pressor beam


andy

From android + -y, coined by Philip K. Dick in his 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

Well, no intelligence test would trap such an andy. But then, intelligence tests hadn't trapped an andy in years, not since the primordial, crude varieties of the '70s.

1968, Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?:

1989, Ron Goulart (ghostwriting as William Shatner), TekWar
These damn andies can pass for humans, as can most of the more expensive andies these days.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K. Dick


fafiate

From FAFIA (“forced away from it all”) + -ate (noun-forming suffix).

af

After she got that job she became a fafiate.

(dated, fandom slang, science fiction) A science fiction fan who has become inactive in the fandom community due to other obligations.


misery lit

(informal, literature) A genre of supposedly biographical literature mostly concerned with the protagonist's triumph over personal trauma or abuse.


neofan

COMING NEXT ISH: A department devoted to the BNF of tomorrow. 'Twill be the neofan of today who is the Tucker or Laney of tomorrow. So QUANDRY, the BNZ of tomorrow, will bring you biografies^([sic]) of lesser known fen.

1950 October, Lee Hoffman, “Chaos”, in Quandry, archived from the original on 2011-06-07, page 5:

I heard a couple of neofans boasting that they were going to have breakfast with him!

1988, Sharyn McCrumb, Bimbos of the Death Sun:

Huzzah! Hopefully we'll get some fans, neo-fans and even fanlings to join us.

2005 June, Ruth Davidson, “President's Message”, in National Fantasy Fan, volume 5, number 2, page 4:

For a while there, if three fans were swapping apazines, it’s a good bet that I was one of them. Not that I set a record for number of apas. Bruce Pelz, Robert Lichtman and a few other fans had made “omniapan-ism” fashionable among impressionable neofen like me. Bruce was not only in a lot of groups, but it seemed like he was Official Editor of half of them.

2006 May 20, Arnie Katz, “The Thin Veneer”, in confuSon, volume 1, number 4:

(dated, fandom slang, science fiction) A newcomer to science fiction; a fan who is extremely new and inexperienced with the genre; a beginner.


Belter

You noticed a habit of mine once. I never make gestures. All Belters have that trait. It's because on a small mining ship you could hit something waving your arms around.

1966 February, Larry Niven, “The Warriors”, in If, volume 16, number 2 (#99 overall), page 152:

Earth and Mars have been stepping on the necks of the Belters out here for over 100 years and I didn't want to be the boot.

2015 December 22, Remembering the Cant (The Expanse), season 1, episode 3, spoken by Jim Holden (Steven Strait):

(science fiction) An inhabitant of an asteroid belt, especially that between Mars and Jupiter.


ageless sleep

She is, indeed, most wondrous fair: Gold of sunshine in her hair. Lips that shame the red, red rose. In ageless sleep, she finds repose. The years roll by, but a hundred years, to a steadfast heart, are but a day.

1959, Erdman Penner, Sleeping Beauty (film)

(mythology, fiction, fantasy) A magical state of suspended animation, where-in the recipient is placed in a state of ageless, deathless, everlasting sleep. Well-known examples are Endymion (the lover of the Greek moon goddess, Selene), and the princess from Sleeping Beauty.


eternal sleep

She is, indeed, most wondrous fair: Gold of sunshine in her hair. Lips that shame the red red rose. In ageless sleep, she finds repose. The years roll by, but a hundred years, to a steadfast heart, are but a day.

1959, Erdmann Penner, Sleeping Beauty (film)

(mythology, fiction, fantasy) A magical state of suspended animation, a state of ageless, deathless, everlasting sleep. Well-known examples are Endymion (the lover of the Greek moon goddess, Selene), and the princess from "Sleeping Beauty".


Earthie

"Earthgirl?" the guard repeated. "She didn't look like an Earthie."

1947 October, Frederik Pohl, “Donovan Had a Dream”, in Thrilling Wonder Stories, volume 30, number 1, page 27:

The blue men of Mica II discriminated against Earthies, considered them inferior since the Micans had conquered the Earthies a hundred years ago.

1963 May, John Jakes, “Underfollow”, in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, volume 24, number 5 (#144 overall), page 66:

(science fiction, informal, often derogatory) An inhabitant of the Earth.


Earthgirl

You have given me an idea, Earthgirl, and it is one that I am afraid you will live to regret.

1939 February, Harold Kerton Wells, “Moon of Mad Atavism”, in Thrilling Wonder Stories, volume 13, number 1, page 35:

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


Earthperson

en-noun

Earthperson (plural Earthpersons or Earthpeople)

Earthpersons (plural)
Earthpeople (plural)

The Venusians, unlike other planetary races, were almost like Earthpeople. There was only one notable difference—they had feathers on their heads instead of hair.

1953 May, Eando Binder, “Interplanetary Tenements”, in Captain Marvel Adventures, volume 24, number 144, page (inside front cover):

And beyond that, the most important equipment of all: the manufacturing units that processed the Earthpeople's food.

1956, Philip Kindred Dick, The World Jones Made, page 198:

My last act as an earthperson, she says, was t' snatch off my landlawd's glasses and punch and punch 'im in the nose.

1974, Donald Newlove, The Drunks, page 140:

"That was an ingenious idea, Earthperson," it said slowly. "There is now a beneficent atmosphere surrounding my pressure envelope, which will enable me to repair the torn fabric and survive until Illensan assistance arrives. Thank you."

1983, James White, Sector General, page 24:

It was Tarna's first demonstration of Earthpersons—or rather Earth robots—in action, an the villagers were hugely impressed.

1986, Arthur C. Clarke, The Songs of Distant Earth, page 81:

(usually science fiction) An inhabitant of the planet Earth.


holodisk

(science fiction) A holographic disk used as a storage medium.


protag

When things have gotten as bad as they can get for the protags, with seemingly no way out, just as they are about to be overpowered by the superior horrific force, something enables them to triumph […]

2008, Robert Brewer, The Craft & Business Of Writing, page 116:

(informal, fiction, writing) Clipping of protagonist.


mock-heroic

en-adj

mock-heroic (comparative more mock-heroic, superlative most mock-heroic)

more mock-heroic (comparative)
most mock-heroic (superlative)

(literature) Pertaining to a literary mode in which trivial subjects or characters are treated using the elaborate language devices of the heroic style.

scig-ghaisciúil

pertaining to a literary mode in which trivial subjects or characters are treated using the elaborate language devices of the heroic style


mock-heroic

(literature) A work in the mockheroic style.


repulsor

(science fiction) A device used to deflect or repel other objects, or for flight stability.


medkit

(usually science fiction, video games) A small bag or case containing medical supplies


datapad

She produced a small datapad, tapped out a rapid sequence on the keys, and shoved it in front of Ma'adrys. “Does it look like this?”
Ma'adrys drew back from the datapad until Geordi leaned over her shoulder to whisper a few words of reassurance

(science fiction) A small handheld device used to gather, send, or process data.


logaoedic

/lɒɡəˈiːdɪk/

From Latin logaoedicus, from Ancient Greek λογᾰοιδῐκός (logaoidikós), from λόγος (lógos, “speech, prose”) + ἀοιδή (aoidḗ, “song”) + -ῐκός (-ikós, “-ic”).

affix

Hence this metre was frequently used by the Æolians, and their strophes were principally formed by connecting logaœdic rhythms with trochees, iambi, and Æolic dactyls.

1840, Karl Otfried Müller (author of the original German), George Cornewall Lewis (translator of chapters I–XXII), “The Æolic School of Lyric Poetry.” (chapter XIII, pages 164–189), in History of the Literature of Ancient Greece (Library of Useful Knowledge), volume I, London: printed by William Clowes and Sons for Baldwin and Cradock, page 171:

The Glyconeus, which has a logaœdic order.

1844, Major, Guide Gr. Trag., second edition, page 159:

Anapæstic Logaœdics are identical in their rhythm with…Logaœdic Dactyls.

1855, Linwood, Greek Tragic Metres, page 79:

The essential difference between choreic and logaoedic rhythm is that of ictus.

1883, Jebb, Œdipus Tyran., Introduction, page 72:

(poetry) Of any metre rhythmically intermediate between ordinary speech (or prose) and song (or poetry), typically combining dactyls and trochees.

logaœdique

of metres rhythmically between speech and song


logaoedic

/lɒɡəˈiːdɪk/

Chorees and logaoedics can be extended to Series of six measures.

1879, J. W. White, transl., Schmidt’s Rhythmic & Metric, § 21, page 65:


broodling

(science fiction) a member of a brood in science fiction


brevis in longo

(poetry, Greek and Latin meter) The situation where a short syllable at the end of a line can be counted as long.


Gibsonesque

en-adj

Gibsonesque (comparative more Gibsonesque, superlative most Gibsonesque)

more Gibsonesque (comparative)
most Gibsonesque (superlative)

Rather than Gibsonesque warnings of the extinction of individuality in corporate hyperspace, for instance, current African writers tentatively advance versions of virtual identity that centre around relative location in motion.

2005, Gerald Gaylard, After Colonialism: African Postmodernism and Magical Realism, Witwatersrand University Press:

Chang even invoked American-Canadian sci-fi cyberpunk author William Gibson, talking of Dizzee's Gibsonesque “mirror-world” in which “patterns [are] de/recontextualized at the edge of recognition and seen in syrupy slo-mo.”

2011, Paul Lester, Bonkers: The Story of Dizzee Rascal, Omnibus Press, →ISBN:

(literature) Reminiscent of the works of William Gibson (born 1948), American-Canadian novelist and essayist who popularized the science fiction concept of cyberspace.


skinwalking

(folklore, mythology) In certain Native American mythologies, the ability to transform into any animal when wearing its pelt.


graser

Acronym of Gamma Ray Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

acronym

The Russians are working on the graser. One B. V. Chirkov has published a theoretical study in the Soviet Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics. He thinks a very pure crystal, "pumped" with a powerful source of radiation (such a "hard" X rays), much as a ruby crystal is pumped with high-intensity light in one form of laser, could be stimulated to emit coherent gamma rays—pulses of high-energy radiation perfectly in step.

1964 February, Wallace Cloud, “Science newsfront”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 184, number 2, →ISSN, page 29:

Not lasers. Grasers. Gamma Ray Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

1974 October, Harlan Ellison, “Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W”, in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, volume 47, number 4, page 59:

electromagnetic radiation
electromagnetic radiation

(physics, science fiction) A device for the coherent amplification or generation of electromagnetic radiation in the gamma ray wavelength by the use of excitation energy in resonant atomic or molecular systems.


Petrarchanism

/pɪˈtɹɑːkənɪzəm/

/pɛˈtɹɑɹkənɪzəm/

(literature) The influential style of Petrarch.


scriptio continua

From Latin scriptiō (“writing”) + continua (“continuous, held together”).

(typography, epigraphy) A style of writing without spacing between the words of the text, particularly writing without any punctuation at all.


undecasyllabic

The subdivision forms octave stanzas of the Italian form, undecasyllabic triple measure, in feminine rhyme, of triple alternating lines, with a finishing couplet.

1886, Hubert Howe Bancroft, The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft: History of Central America. 1886-1887, page 61:

(linguistics, poetry) Having eleven syllables.


moon rune

Compound of moon + rune. Possibly influenced by moon-letters, a secret writing system in J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit.

Pull the lever to turn the Moon Rune bridge around so you can get the Moon Rune.

2000, Mel Odom, Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm official strategy guide

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see moon, rune.

(science fiction and fantasy) A runestone or similar object associated with the moon.

This knowledge, then, was to come – as the Moon rune, or rune of the night, signified – in the form of dreams.

2011, David Bilsborough, The Wanderer's Tale, page 73:

(science fiction and fantasy) A rune or other writing indicating or associated with the moon.


moeblob

What really bugs me is that they changed Yotsuba's speech pattern. I don't want my favorite manga character to sound like a moeblob.

2009 September 14, José Manuel García-Patos, “Re: Yotsuba”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

I think it should have been qualified as "people who like K-on _because it has schoolgirls_". I liked K-on for the funny and slice-of-life parts. It was no Azumanga Daioh, but it had moeblobs AND writing.

2010 January 16, Megane, “Re: 2ch and the 2 types of otaku”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

A young girl is growing up in the town of Muhlenberg, somewhere in Germany (looks like it is based on Rothenburg from the end titles), but she is growing up without her parents. Her father never really gets a mention but it seems that her mother, a talented pianist, was killed a few years before the opening of this story and, as a result, Saga is now living with her grandmother. She is, however, NOT a moeblob.

2010 March 27, Chika, “Review - A Little Snow Fairy Sugar”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

(Japanese fiction, fandom slang) A moe character with a generic design and no defining personality traits.


vidtape

1989, Ron Goulart (ghostwriting as William Shatner), TekWar
She was standing in the center of their living room, wearing the same pale green fakesilk dress she'd had on in the vidtape. She looked fine now, though, not weary or ill.


smooth breathing

(orthography) A diacritic mark (᾿/◌̓) in Ancient, Medieval and Modern Greek used to indicate absence of aspiration for an initial vowel, and sometimes for rho, e.g. ἀ, ῤ


robot revolution

en-noun

robot revolution (plural robot revolutions)

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

(science fiction) A violent uprising by sapient robots, aimed at overthrowing human government.


dandere

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

Borrowed from Japanese ダンデレ (dandere), a portmanteau of 黙り (danmari, “keeping completely silent”), emphatic noun form of verb 黙る (damaru, “to be silent”), and デレデレ (dere-dere, “in a lovey-dovey, infatuated, or lovestruck manner”, adverb).

A tsundere-type character will engender a hostile on the outside but sweet on the inside reaction towards the player, while a dandere will show little to know emotion except for subtle displays of affection.

2017, Luca Paolo Bruno, "Grand Narratives Blossom still: Character database and political narratives in the Muv Luv franchise", thesis submitted to Ca' Foscari University of Venice, page 13

The kuudere and dandere characters have more reserved personalities, hence those qualities are also reflected in their designs.

2019, Samneang Peo, "Visual Development Of A Visual Novel: Visual Storytelling in an Interactive Game", thesis submitted to South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, page 12

Then there is Yuri, the blue oni to Natsuki’s red oni, who is shy, cute, and literary but hides a maddening love for the player; she is the archetypical dandere character thought to emerge from the blue-haired Rei Ayanami of the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion […]

2022 March, Christopher B. Patterson, “Making Queer Asiatic Worlds: Performance and Racial Interaction in North American Visual Novels”, in American Literature, volume 94, number 1:

(chiefly Japanese fiction) A character archetype who stays silent, not expressing their feelings.


robocop

From robo- + cop, after the film RoboCop (1987).

1990, Library and Information Technology Association (U.S.). National Conference, Michael Gorman, Convergence: Proceedings of the Second National Conference...
As the World Wars were succeeded by the Korean War, which melded into the Vietnam War, science fiction pictured numerous dystopias controlled by means of ever-watchful computer and robocops.

Opposite of natural monsters there are technological monsters such as terminators, cyborgs, and robocops—all of which undermine dichotomies between the artificial and the organic, the prosthetic and the natural.

2010, Tyson E. Lewis, Richard Kahn, Education Out of Bounds, page 1:

(science fiction) A cyborg police officer.


painstick

(science fiction) A weapon consisting of a baton capable of delivering a jolt of pain on contact with the body.


blastor

Well it was for me that, in obedience to Hul Jok's imperative command, I was holding my Blastor pointing ahead of me; for as I blundered full upon the monstrosity it upheaved its ugly bulk—how I do not know, for I saw no legs nor did it have wings—to one edge and would have flopped down upon me, but instinctively I slid forward the catch on the tiny Blastor, and the foul thing vanished—save for a few fragments of its edges—smitten into nothingness by the vibration hurled forth from that powerful little disintegrator.

1925 April, Nictzin Dyalhis, “When the Green Star Waned”, in Weird Tales, volume 5, number 4, page 6:

(science fiction) Alternative form of blaster (“hand weapon”)


nani

Nani the fuck?


galactography

Either galactic + -graphy or blend of galactic + geography. Coined by American science fiction author Isaac Asimov in 1950 in the final installment of the novella "...And Now You Don't" (collected as part of Second Foundation).

coin

‘Galactography,’ said the mayor, ‘is our greatest enemy. Our admirals make no secret of our almost hopeless, strategic position.’

1950 January, Isaac Asimov, “...And Now You Don't”, in Astounding Science-Fiction, volume 44, number 5, page 113:

Well, one knows that. I mean, one studies galactography and gets to recognize the stars with inhabited planets in the sky at night.

1960, John Brunner, Slavers of Space, Ace Books, page 22:

(science fiction) The science of charting and mapping galaxies.


galactographer

From galactography (“science of charting and mapping galaxies”) + -er. Coined by American science fiction author Edmond Hamilton in his 1965 novelette The Shores of Infinity.

suffix

Early galactographers had defined it as that part of the galaxy which lay between the eastern and southern kingdoms, and the edge of the island-universe.

1965 April, Edmond Hamilton, “The Shores of Infinity”, in Amazing Stories, volume 39, number 4, page 24:

It seems like these 'cats might be left over from wetter days. I found a brief study of Rhyl done by a couple galactographers, and they reported this was once a cooler planet.

1978, Robert Edward Vardeman, The Sandcats of Rhyl, →ISBN:

Some galactographers have estimated that there may be up to ten thousand inhabited planets that aren't listed at all.

1982, Isaac Asimov, Foundation's Edge, →ISBN, page 99:

(science fiction) A specialist in galactography.


galactographic

en-adj

galactographic (comparative more galactographic, superlative most galactographic)

more galactographic (comparative)
most galactographic (superlative)

From galactography (“science of charting and mapping galaxies”) + -ic. Coined by American science fiction author Isaac Asimov in 1950 in the final installment of the novella "...And Now You Don't" (collected as part of Second Foundation).

suffix

Nor were the galactographic verities of the situation lost upon Stettin.

1950 January, Isaac Asimov, “...And Now You Don't”, in Astounding Science-Fiction, volume 44, number 5, page 115:

Is there some place here where we can make some galactographic computations?

1969 May, Edmond Hamilton, “The Horror from the Magellanic”, in Amazing Stories, volume 43, number 1, page 11:

This new planet didn't have a name. It could just about support life, but not a lot, and as opposed to Beta Caprisis—where entirely too many interesting things had happened for it to be inhabited—this planet simply wasn't interesting enough. It had a galactographic classification, in a desultory sort of way, but for various reasons you‟re not going to get it out of me.

1999, Dave Stone, The Mary-Sue Extrusion, →ISBN:

(science fiction) Pertaining to galactography; to the charting and mapping galaxies.


Vancian

en-adj

Vancian (comparative more Vancian, superlative most Vancian)

more Vancian (comparative)
most Vancian (superlative)

Vance has, in short, more than any other science fiction writer ‘colonised’ the entirely new imaginative space created by the nineteenth- and twentieth-century science of anthropology, […] Is it merely local colour? To answer that, one has to note, beneath the constant Vancean surface of strange ‘xenography’,⁸ the recurrent Vancean theme of human ‘plasticity’.

2016, Tom Shippey, ““People are Plastic”: Jack Vance and the Dilemma of Cultural Relativism”, in Hard Reading: Learning from Science Fiction, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, →ISBN, →JSTOR, page 111:

(literature) Of or relating to Jack Vance (1916–2013), American writer of mystery, fantasy, and science fiction stories.


sideshadowing

(literature) A literary technique that uses references not in the current text.


Partheniac

From Ancient Greek παρθένος (parthénos, “maiden; virgin”) + -ac.

uder

(Ancient Greek and Latin poetry, obsolete) Alternative form of partheniac


partheniac

Borrowed from Ancient Greek παρθένος (parthénos, “maiden; virgin”) + -ac.

(Ancient Greek and Latin poetry) of or pertaining to some form of irregular anapestic meter


partheniac

(Ancient Greek and Latin poetry, obsolete) a line of partheniac meter


isosyllabism

From isosyllabic + -ism, from iso- + syllabic.

(linguistics, poetry) the use of isosyllabic verse


isosyllabicity

From isosyllabic + -ity, from iso- + syllabic.


anisosyllabism

From anisosyllabic + -ism, from an- + iso- + syllabic.

(linguistics, poetry) the use of anisosyllabic verse


anisosyllabic

From aniso- + syllabic or an- + iso- + syllabic.

(linguistics, poetry) of or pertaining to metrical systems in which syllables are of differing lengths

anisosillabico

of meters with syllables of differing length


isosyllabic

(linguistics, poetry) of or pertaining to metrical systems in which syllables are of equal length

isosyllabique

of meters with syllables of equal length


Acme

Acme
Acme Corporation
Looney Tunes
Warner Bros.
trademark
yellow pages

From acme (“highest, best”). As a threading, from the original 1894 manufacturer, the Acme Screw Machine Company of Hartford, Connecticut. In its use as a generic company for comedic effect or to avoid trademark issues, most popularized by the Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes cartoons but already very commonly used by 20th century American companies as a way to lead the professional listings in yellow page phone books.

Henry knew better than to alienate one of the Acme secretaries.

1968 July, Stan Dryer, “The Fully Automated Love Life of Henry Keanridge”, in Playboy Magazine, page 152:

[ Netanyahu ] showed everybody how close Iran was to getting nuclear weapons by having this spherical cartoon bomb with a wick coming up like Acme style. I was watching this thing thinking, are we worried about Ahmadinejad or are we worried about Inspector Clouseau?

2012 September 29, Adam Felber, “Wait, Wait... Don’t Tell Me!”, in National Public Radio:

(fiction) A generic or monopoly company.


proto-science fiction

(science fiction) Any of various early literature that contained elements that would develop into science fiction


electromancer

(science fiction) Someone who practices the divination of electricity.


Niven ring

Named after American science fiction writer Larry Niven, who wrote the famous science-fiction novel Ringworld that popularized the idea.

named-after

(science fiction) A solid ring type Dyson ring around a star, capable of containing an interior surface that could be terraformed into a habitat with an inner ring of occultation panels to provide a day-night cycle.


virch

en-noun

virch (countable and uncountable, plural virches)

(He won't use virch goggles; their simulated environments cut him off too thoroughly from me, and that scares him.)

1995, Michael Bishop, “Cri de Coeur”, in Gardner Dozois, editor, The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twelfth Annual Collection, page 428:

"Yeah. Why vid, anyway? Why not virch?"

2002, Candas Jane Dorsey, A Paradigm of Earth, page 108:

Knowing Noah will be content in his virch for as long as he is left undisturbed, she begins mapping new ideas […]

2015, James Bradley, Clade, unnumbered page:

(informal, science fiction) virtual reality


xenozoology

(science fiction) The branch of xenology dealing with extraterrestrial animals.

Xenozoologie

xenology dealing with extraterrestrial cultures


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.


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.


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


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.


bioship

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


Dyson tree

genetically engineered
genetically engineered

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


mindlock

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


hyperchess

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


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.).


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)


anticathartic

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

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.


Afropunk

Coordinate term: Afrofuturism

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.


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:

(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.


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.


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.


shounen ai

(slang, anime, manga) A narrative or visual work featuring a romance or sexual relationship between two or more males.


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 (少年愛; shōnen ai) using Japanese vocabulary.

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


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)

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


trad-pub

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)

(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.


tomhan

(Scotland, folklore) A magical fairy mound.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


werepuma

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can change between puma 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


psyker

(science fiction) a person who uses psychic powers.


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.


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

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(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.)


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 VIII

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

(poetic, science fiction) The planet Neptune.


Sol VII

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

(poetic, science fiction) The planet Uranus.


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.


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.


televiewer

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


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.


computer core

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


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.


newsnet

(science fiction) A news broadcasting network.


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.


cryobed

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


shuttleport

(science fiction) A spaceport from which shuttles depart.


copulatress

(rare, science fiction) A female copulator.


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

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.

(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

(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.


holotape

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


holodisc

(science fiction) Alternative form of holodisk


hendecameter

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


unfooted

an unfooted schwa


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 1935 novel Odd John: A Story Between Jest and Earnest.

der

Homo Superior faced the little mob of Homo Sapiens, and it was immediately evident that Homo Superior was indeed the better man.

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) The evolutionary step beyond Homo sapiens.


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

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

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


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.


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.


Third Law of Robotics

Three Laws of Robotics
Three Laws 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).


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).


First Law of Robotics

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


anger balloon

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


MSND

(literature, Shakespeare) initialism of A Midsummer Night's Dream.


salesbot

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


Sol system

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

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.


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.


twintail

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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.


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

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


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.


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)


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 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.


anti-villain

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) A character 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.


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.


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.


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.


wereboar

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


were-elephant

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


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.


xenologer

(science fiction) Synonym of xenologist.


xenologist

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

xénologiste

someone whose field of study is xenology


spacedive

(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

(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


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

(military fiction) Initialism of lost in action.


LIA

(military fiction) Initialism of lost-in-action.


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

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


tightbeam

“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.


Earth day

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


Earthboy

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


nature faker

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


weredwarf

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