Ansible

Origin

First used in 1966 in Rocannon's World and expanded on in 1974 in by ; Le Guin states that she derived it from answerable.

See also The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1968).

The ansible has more recently been adopted by Orson Scott Card, first in (1986) and then in successive works in his .

Full definition of ansible

Noun

1. (science fiction) A hypothetical device that enables users to communicate instantaneously across great distances; that is, a faster-than-light communication device.
• 1966, Ursula K. Le Guin, , reprinted in Worlds of Exile and Illusion, Macmillan (1996), ISBN 978-0-312-86211-4, page 25:“You remember the ansible, the machine I showed you in the ship, which can speak instantly to other worlds, with no loss of years–...”
• 1985, Orson Scott Card, , reprinted by Macmillan (2002), ISBN 978-0-765-34229-4, page 251:“... The master ansible is there, in contact with all our invasion fleet; the ships are all working, ready to fight. ...”
• 2008, Elizabeth Moon, Victory Conditions, reprint by Random House (2009), ISBN 9780345491626, page 39,Ky had allotted two hours here, time to strip the news from the ansible, share it, even discuss it, but she didn’t plan to have everyone clustered and vulnerable.

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