cyberspace

Etymology

It is formed from English cyber- + space,^[2][3][4][5] apparently coined by the science-fiction writer William Gibson in a short story published in 1982.^[2][3][6] The combining form cyber- is ultimately from cybernetics.^[3][7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The notional space in which communication between computers takes place: 1982, in William Gibson's story in the magazine Omni.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Gibson popularised the word in his novel Neuromancer (1984),^[6][8] where it described a hallucinatory world existing between computers.^[8] At first it was often written as two words.^[3] The OED defines it as the space of virtual reality, the notional environment where electronic communication, especially over the internet, takes place,^[2] and Merriam-Webster as the online world of computer networks, especially the internet.^[4] Etymonline notes that cyberspace and cyberpunk were among the earliest words formed with cyber-, which spread rapidly with the internet in the early 1990s.^[3]

Timeline

• 1982 – the notional environment of electronic communication, in William Gibson's fiction.^[2][3][4]
• 1984 – popularised in Gibson's Neuromancer.^[6][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The online world of computer networks, especially the Internet.^[4][2]
2. The data of a large computer or network represented as a three-dimensional space through which a user of virtual reality can move.^[9][5]

Related words

• cybernetics
• cyberpunk

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins