Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction

Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction is a website created by lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower that traces the origin of terms in science fiction literature. The website launched in January, 2021.

Background

The genesis for the site was the Oxford English Dictionary's Science Fiction Citations Project, begun in 2001. Sheidlower, an editor-at-large for the OED, used crowdsourcing to collect words and their history from science fiction. The project resulted in the Hugo Award-winning book Brave New Words.[1]

In 2020, Sheidlower obtained permission from the OED to continue the project independently.[2]

Development

The Internet Archive had scanned large numbers of science fiction pulp magazines, providing a digital resource that was not available when the earlier project began.[2] With that resource and the extended period of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[1] Sheidlower tracked down the original appearance of words such as "mutant",[3] "first contact", and "deep space",[4] and began assembling the new website, launching it live in January, 2021.[1]

As a historical dictionary, the site provides not only a definition of a term, but also the historical development of their forms and meanings. Particular attention is paid to antedating, which means finding the first known occurrence.[5] The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction contains approximately 1800 entries at launch,[2] identifying the literature in which the term first appeared and subsequent uses of the term over time.[6][3] The entries include terms used over three centuries. For example, the first recorded use of teleport is an 1878 mention in The Times of India.[7]

Sheidlower is continuing to add additional terms after the initial launch[8] and hopes to include more terms from 21st century science fiction.[5]

References
  1. Rogers, Adam. "A New Way to Trace the History of Sci-Fi's Made-Up Words". Wired. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  2. Schuessler, Jennifer (January 26, 2021). "Tracking the Vocabulary of Sci-Fi, from Aerocar to Zero-Gravity". The New York Times. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  3. Zimmer, Ben (January 7, 2021). "'Mutant': An Altered Version—Whether the Coronavirus, Genes or X-Men". WSJ. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  4. Thompson, Clive (January 27, 2021). "The "Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction" launches". Boing Boing. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  5. ""Warp speed," "Prime Directive" predate Star Trek, per new reference tool". Ars Technica. January 27, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  6. "Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction: mutant". Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction. January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  7. Roy, Nilanjana (February 5, 2021). "A deep dive into the wormhole of sci-fi invention". Financial Times. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  8. Armstrong, Vanessa (January 27, 2021). "Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction shows words like hoverboard & teleport are older than we thought". SYFY WIRE. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
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