noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
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
Pronunciation
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/ˌsaɪ.ən.tɪˈfɪk.ʃən/
rhymes with -ɪkʃən
1
noun
Meaning 1
Science fiction.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated, uncountable
Examples
1926, Hugo Gernsback, Amazing Stories, "A New Sort of Magazine" There is the usual fiction magazine, the love story and the sex-appeal type of magazine, the adventure type, and so on, but a magazine of "Scientifiction" is a pioneer in its field in America. By "scientifiction" I mean the Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and Edgar Allan Poe type of story—a charming romance intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek-? Proto-Indo-European *-éyti Proto-Indo-European *skey-der. Latin sciō Latin sciēns Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin scientia Proto-Indo-European *dheh1-der. Proto-Italic *θakos Proto-Italic *-fakos Latin -ficus Medieval Latin scientificusder. Middle French scientifiquebor. English scientific Proto-Indo-European *dheyǵh- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *dhinéǵhti Proto-Italic *θingō Proto-Italic *fingōder. Latin fingō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin fictiōder. Old French ficcionbor. Middle English ficcioun English fiction blend English scientifiction Blend of scientific + fiction. Coined by Hugo Gernsback in 1916.
