terraform
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Terra (“planet Earth”) + -form (“having the form of”). Coined by American science fiction author Jack Williamson in 1942 as part of his novella Collision Orbit.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
terraform (third-person singular simple present terraforms, present participle terraforming, simple past and past participle terraformed)
- (chiefly science fiction) To transform the atmosphere (or biosphere) of another planet into one having the characteristics of Earth.
- 1942 July, Jack Williamson, “Collision Orbit”, in Astounding Science-Fiction, volume 29, number 5, page 82:
- He had been the original claimant of Obania, forty years ago; and Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock, only two kilometers through—by sinking a shaft to its heart for the paragravity installation, generating oxygen and water from mineral oxides, releasing absorptive gases to trap the feeble heat of the far-off Sun.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
transform into one having the characteristics of Earth
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References[edit]
- Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “terraform v.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.