ansible

[an-suh-buhl]

noun

1. (in science fiction) a device for instantaneous communication, or other purposes, across cosmic distances.

   With the ansible on the fritz, it would take eleven years for their message to reach the admiral, who was waging war in another galaxy.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ansible¹

Shortening of answerable; coined by Ursula K. Le Guin in her novel Rocannon's World (1966)

Example Sentences

After the Ansible Foundation Training course, you'll be able to manage a cloud region, create playbooks, and then some.

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I wanted to go to Orgoreyn and see if my guesses concerning it were sound, but I wanted to finish up with Karhide first, so I sold another ruby to the scar-faced jeweler in Eng Street, and with no baggage but my money, my ansible, a few instruments and a change of clothes, set off as a passenger on a trade-caravan on the first day of the first month of summer.

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I wanted to open my case, get out the ansible, and send an Advise/Urgent! through to Hain.

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The old Law of Cultural Embargo stood against the importation of analyzable, imitable artifacts at this stage, and so I had nothing with me except the ship and ansible, my box of pictures, the indubitable peculiarity of my body, and the unprovable singularity of my mind.

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“Yes, if you had the proper signal. The people aboard are in a condition we call stasis, hibernation you might say, so that they won’t lose out of their lives the years they spend waiting for me to get my business done down here. The proper signal on the proper wavelength will set machinery in motion that will bring them out of stasis; after which they’ll consult with me by radio, or by ansible, using Ollul as relay-center.”

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