English Explanatory Dictionary

ansible

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A hypothetical device that enables users to communicate instantaneously across great distances; that is, a faster-than-light communication device.

Pronunciation

/ˈæn.sɪ.bəl/ /ˈɑːn.sɪ.bəl/

Word forms

ansible ansibles

Etymology

Coined by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin in 1966 in her novella Rocannon's World; Le Guin states that she derived it from answerable. The word was further spread by its adoption into other science fiction worlds, including by Orson Scott Card in Ender's Game (1986), Vernor Vinge in The Blabber (1988) and Dan Simmons in Hyperion (1989).

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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