expanded universe

noun

In fiction, the extension of a media franchise (i.e. a television show, series of feature films, etc.) with other media (generally comics and original novels), often with the result being that the stories described in the other media are not considered canon in the original.

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Meanings

nounexpanded universe (plural expanded universes)

plural expanded universes

  1. In fiction, the extension of a media franchise (i.e. a television show, series of feature films, etc.) with other media (generally comics and original novels), often with the result being that the stories described in the other media are not considered canon in the original.

    The Star Wars novels, comics, video games, television series, and radio shows created between 1977 and 2012 all constitute an original Expanded Universe (EU) of in-universe history and lore set within the same transmedia franchise.

    2019, Monica Louzon, “Mara Jade, Frontier Woman”, in Melanie A. Marotta, editor, Women's Space, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 29
Cite this entry
APA

expanded universe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expanded%20universe

MLA

“expanded universe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expanded%20universe. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “expanded universe,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expanded%20universe.

Source: expanded universe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.