science fiction

See also science-fiction

English

Etymology

Apparently coined in 1851 by W. Wilson.

Cover of Rocket to the Moon, a 1951 science fiction comic book.

Noun

science fiction (uncountable)

1. Fiction in which advanced technology and/or science is a key element.

   Some people consider motion pictures such as the Star Wars movies more as fantasies than science fiction.

2. Technology that, while theoretically possible, is not yet practical.

   Despite decades of research, mass-market personal aircraft are still science fiction.

Translations

fiction

• Arabic: خيال علمي (ar) (xayāl ʿílmī) m
• Bulgarian: научна фантастика (bg) (naučna fantastika) f
• Catalan: ciència-ficció (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 科幻 (cmn) (kēhuàn)

• Finnish: tieteiskirjallisuus (fi)
• French: science-fiction (fr)
• German: Science-Fiction (de) f
• Greek: επιστημονική φαντασία (el) (epistimonikí fantasía) f
• Irish: ficsean eolaíochta (ga) m
• Italian: fantascienza (it) f
• Japanese: ＳＦ (ja) (esuefu), 空想科学小説 (ja) (kūsō kagaku shōsetsu), サイエンスフィクション (ja) (saiensufikushon)

• Korean: 과학소설 (ko) (gwahak soseol) (科學小說 (ko))
• Latin: scientia ficticia (la) f
• Polish: fantastyka naukowa (pl) f
• Portuguese: ficção científica (pt)
• Russian: фантастика (ru) (fantástika) f, научная фантастика (ru) (naúčnaja fantástika) f
• Scottish Gaelic: ficsean saidheans (gd) m
• Slovene: znanstvena fantastika (sl) f
• Swahili: sayansi ya kubuniwa (sw)
• Turkish: bilim kurgu (tr)

technology which is not yet practical

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 科幻 (cmn) (kēhuàn)

• Finnish: tieteiskirjallisuus (fi)
• French: science-fiction (fr)

• German: Science-Fiction (de) f
• Russian: фантастика (ru) (fantástika) f
• Slovene: znanstvena fantastika (sl) f

Related terms

• fiction
• sci-fi
• scientifiction
• SF

See also

• fantasy
• speculative fiction