three-D n.
a device or system capable of transmitting or displaying a three dimensional image; (also) a three-dimensional image; cf. tri-D n.
Also 3D, three-dee.
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1955
page image
Milton Lesser
bibliography
A man Ellaby’s own size was sitting there, viewing a 3D.
Dictator in Imagination Jan. 85/2 -
1957
Kate Wilhelm
They had rediscovered the joy of reading books. Real leather-bound books instead of watching the three D set, or using the story films.
in Astounding Science Fiction Apr. 110/1 -
1958
Poul Anderson
Karen Anderson
bibliography
‘That is a sexy type of furniture, all right’, agreed Doran. He lowered himself into another chair, cocked his feet on the 3-D and waved a cigarette.
Innocent At Large in Galaxy Science Fiction July 135/1 -
1962
page image
Poul Anderson
bibliography
On his back he carried a lumpy metal cylinder; the harness included a plastic panel across his chest, with switches, knobs, and three meters. Like some science fiction hero on the 3D.
Shield in Fantastic Stories of Imagination June 63/2 -
1971
Gregory Benford
Gordon Eklund
The mammoth 3D mounted on one wall had been scrounged out of spare parts several years after the Zephyr expedition was launched.
West Wind, Falling in T. Carr Universe 1 16 -
1971
Gregory Benford
Gordon Eklund
But the 3D tapes he’d seen: people jammed together like dogs in a kennel; food rationed; wars and riots; shades of bleak, shades of gray.
West Wind, Falling in T. Carr Universe 1 17 -
1978
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David Bischoff
Ted White
bibliography
It was…as though the entire adventure had merely been some three-dee program which was fast nearing its climax.
Forbidden World in Amazing Stories Jan. 107/1 -
1986
James Tiptree, Jr.
bibliography
The lights come up in the huge three-di display of the Harmony, colored to show the star-systems of all the allied races.
Collision in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine May 130
Research requirements
antedating 1955
Earliest cite
"Milton Lesser", 'The Dictator'
Research History
Looking for 'threedee', 'three D' and '3D'.
Mike Christie submitted a 1962 cite for the form "3D" from Poul Anderson's "Shield".
Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite for the form "three D" from a reprint of Kate Wilhelm's "The Mile-Long Spaceship"; Mike Christie verified the cite in the 1957 original magazine appearance.
Malcolm Farmer submitted a 1971 cite for the form "3D" from Gregory Benford and Gordon Eklund's "West Wind, Fallling".
Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite for the form "threedee" from a 1991 reprint of Walter Jon Williams' 1989 "Angel Station.
Malcolm Farmer submitted a 1958 cite for the form "3-D" from Poul and Karen Anderson's "Innocent at Large"
Fred Galvin submitted a 1955 cite for "3D" from "The Dictator" by Milton Lesser (pseudonym of Stephen Marlowe): it is impossible to tell from context whether this cite referred to the viewing device or the entertainment being shown on it,,,,
Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite for the form "three-di" from a reprint of James Tiptree's "Collision"; Mike Christie verified it in the 1986 first magazine appearance.
Mike Christie submitted a 1948 cite from John D. MacDonald's "School for the Stars", but it is used here just as an abbreviation for "three-dimensional" (albeit in an science-fictional context) rather than to refer to a three-D television system or something similar. Likewise, many later cites are abbreviations for "three dimensional" in some broader context.
Last modified 2021-09-07 19:26:04
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.