Martian n. 1

a native or inhabitant of the planet Mars; cf. earlier Marsian n. 1

Demonyms

  • 1868 J. L. Motley Historic Progress & American Democracy (1869) 36

    In popular periodicals and lectures of to-day you may learn much of the bays, rivers, inlets, oceans, and continents of the planet Mars; and if inclined for a vacation excursion, and could you find a conveyance thither, you might easily arrange a tour in that planet, starting from Huggin’s Inlet and sailing thirty thousand miles along one of its very convenient estuaries without ever losing sight of land. I know not whether the Martians have accepted the nomenclature of Dawes Continent, Table-Leg Bay, and the other designations laid down on their planet by the spirited geographers of ours; but at least they might be flattered did they know of the interest they excite on this earth.

  • 1874 Galaxy Jan. 127/1

    The Martians would therefore be in a better position for understanding our attempts at opening up communication than the Venerians.

  • 1883 W. S. Lach-Szyrma Aleriel iii. iii. 109 W. S. Lach-Szyrma bibliography

    He…brought with him another Martian, differently attired.

  • 1898 H. G. Wells War of Worlds i. v. 31 H. G. Wells

    The glimpse I had had of the Martians emerging from the cylinder in which they had come to the earth from their planet.

  • 1928 H. Gernsback Baron Münchhausen’s Scientific Adventures in Amazing Stories May 155/2 page image Hugo Gernsback

    Exactly the same is the case when the Martian converses by thought transmission; his brain ‘hears’ only that which he actually wishes to hear and nothing else.

  • 1941 Cosmic Stories Mar.

    A science-fiction club, in case you’re not familiar with one, is a group of young fellows who read the science fiction magazines regularly, sometimes collect them, and like to meet once in a while to talk over the various ideas presented in them—like interplanetary flight, Martians, time travel and so forth.

  • 1954 E. Pangborn Mirror for Observers 9 page image Edgar Pangborn bibliography

    note: all characters in this novel are fictitious except possibly the Martians. [Ibid. ix. 98] I broke his clutch on my windpipe and gripped his shoulders over the subclavicular nerve clusters where a Martian should feel pain, but he was hard to down.

  • 1966 A. Panshin in Riverside Quarterly Jan. 45 Alexei Panshin

    The story’s premises are not true: there are no Martians of the sort Heinlein writes of, and no super powers are available to those who think proper Martian thoughts.

  • 1976 C. Holland Floating Worlds (1977) 303 Cecelia Holland bibliography

    The Martians went back again as soon as we left.

  • 1985 G. A. Effinger Nick of Time (1987) 12 George Alec Effinger bibliography

    The management of the Fair had taken the opportunity to show what would happen if Martians took it into their pointy little green heads to attack the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

  • 1993 A. C. Clarke Hammer of God 64 Arthur C. Clarke

    Olympus Mons was the best example. Martians were fond of saying that it was three times the height of any mountain on Earth…

  • 1993 G. Bear Moving Mars 177 Greg Bear

    Martians have never smuggled designs and never sought to infringe patents.

  • 1994 Science Fiction Age July 84/2

    And the lust for destruction exhibited by the Martians was simultaneously more petty.

  • 2014 A. Weir Martian 155 Andy Weir bibliography

    Yes, with each sandstorm comes the inevitable Cleaning of the Solar Cells, a time-honored tradition among hearty Martians such as myself.


Research requirements

antedating 1868

Research History
Fred Galvin submitted a cite from no later than 1891 from the fourth edition of Richard Proctor's "Other Worlds Than Ours"; however, the 1874 edition was checked and does not contain "Martian". We would like to check any later editions that pre-date 1883.
Peter Reitan submitted a cite from 1869, transcribing an 1868 use.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2014 cite from Andy Weir's "Martian".
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 1954 cite from Edgar Pangbourn.

First citation in OED: Lach-Szyrma.

Last modified 2022-03-17 13:50:57
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.