ansible

A1N1S1I1B3L1E1
UK/ˈæn.sɪ.bəl/UK/ˈɑːn.sɪ.bəl/

noun

A hypothetical device that enables users to communicate instantaneously across great distances; that is, a faster-than-light communication device.

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Meanings

nounansible (plural ansibles)

plural ansibles

  1. literatureA hypothetical device that enables users to communicate instantaneously across great distances; that is, a faster-than-light communication device.

    “[…] The master ansible is there, in contact with all our invasion fleet; the ships are all working, ready to fight. […]”

    1985, Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game, reprinted by Macmillan, published 2002, →ISBN, page 251
    2 more examples

    “You remember the ansible, the machine I showed you in the ship, which can speak instantly to other worlds, with no loss of years– […] ” “An ansible would theoretically be powered by subatomic particles that have undergone quantum entanglement, which utilizes Einstein's 'spooky action at a distance', allowing the alteration of one particle to instantaneously alter the state of its paired particle. […] ”

    1966, Ursula K. Le Guin, Rocannon's World, reprinted in Worlds of Exile and Illusion, Macmillan (1996), page 25

    Ky had allotted two hours here, time to strip the news from the ansible, share it, even discuss it, but she didn’t plan to have everyone clustered and vulnerable.

    2008, Elizabeth Moon, Victory Conditions, reprint by Random House, published 2009, →ISBN, page 39

Origin

Coined by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin in 1966 in her novella Rocannon's World; Le Guin states that she derived it by shortening of answerable in 1996 in her debut novel Rocannon’s World. The word was further spread by its adoption into other science fiction worlds, including by Orson Scott Card in Ender's Game (1986), Vernor Vinge in The Blabber (1988) and Dan Simmons in Hyperion (1989).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish ansiibeli
  • ansiibelihypothetical device
French ansible
  • ansiblehypothetical device
Portuguese ansível
  • ansívelhypothetical device
Russian ансибл, аппарат мгновенной связи
  • ансибл (ansibl)hypothetical device
  • аппарат мгновенной связи (apparat mgnovennoj svjazi)hypothetical device
Spanish ansible
  • ansiblehypothetical device
Swedish ansibel
  • ansibelhypothetical device

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

lesbianSanibel
Cite this entry
APA

ansible. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ansible

MLA

“ansible.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ansible. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ansible,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ansible.

Source: ansible on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.