contraterrene

English

Alternative forms

• contra-terrene, contra terrene

Etymology

From contra- (“against”) +‎ terrene.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkɒntɹətəˈɹiːn/

Adjective

contraterrene (not comparable)

1. (obsolete in physics, science fiction) Made of or pertaining to antimatter.

   Synonym: seetee

   Antonym: terrene

   • 1952, Science Digest, volume 31, page 67:

     This means just one thing: the instant contraterrene matter struck ordinary matter, a terrific explosion would occur!

   • 1957, John W. Campbell, Islands of Space‎^[1]:

     Then I started jacking up the voltage, and modified the thing with a double-polarity field somewhat similar to the molecular motion field except that it works on a sub-nucleonic level. As a result, about half of the lead fed into the chamber became contraterrene lead! The atoms just turned themselves inside out, so to speak, giving us an atom with positrons circling a negatively charged nucleus.

References

• “contraterrene, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “contraterrene, adj.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.