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cavorite. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
cavorite, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
cavorite in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
cavorite you have here. The definition of the word
cavorite will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
cavorite, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Cavor + -ite. First used in 1901 in The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells. It was named after the fictional Dr. Cavor. The initial use was capitalized, but later authors borrowing the concept sometimes changed it to lowercase.
In the first use, the metal acted as a gravity shield; after the metal was cooled, objects contained within it were no longer subject to gravity. Some later uses, e.g., Alan Moore's, imagine the substance to simply have a negative gravitational mass.
Noun
cavorite (uncountable)
- (science fiction) A hypothetical substance with anti-gravity effects.
1999, Vernor Vinge, A Deepness in the Sky, reprinted by Macmillan, published 2000, →ISBN, page 760:“In the early years, they were the most primitive structures ever to fly in space, cheap and overbuilt and overcrewed, hoisted on cavorite wings.”