Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
A hypothetical substance with anti-gravity effects.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: literature, media, publishing, science-fiction
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From Cavor + -ite. Coined by British science fiction author H. G. Wells in 1901 in The First Men in the Moon. It was named after the fictional Dr. Cavor. The initial use was capitalized, but later authors borrowing the concept sometimes changed it to lowercase. In the first use, the metal acted as a gravity shield; after the metal was cooled, objects contained within it were no longer subject to gravity. Some later uses, e.g., Alan Moore's, imagine the substance to simply have a negative gravitational mass.
