Cyberspace Meaning
/ˈsaɪ.bəˌspeɪs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA world of information accessed through the Internet.
nounThe Internet as a whole.
Sentence Examples
Tom and Mary met in cyberspace.
No one says "cyberspace" anymore.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Avatars interact in a vast digital world known as ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Tom and Mary met in ____.
Word Origin & History
Blend of cybernetics + space, equivalent to cyber- + space, coined by American-Canadian speculative fiction writer William Gibson in his short story collection Burning Chrome (1982) and popularized in his novel Neuromancer (1984).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Meanwhile, the pioneers of the computer-mediated communication networks collectively referred to as cyberspace are not willing to wait. Employing whatever tools they can find, they are constantly pushing the techno-cultural envelope. Life in cyberspace is often conducted in primitive, frontier conditions, but it is a life which, at its best, is more egalitarian than elitist, and more decentralized than hierarchical."
— 1993 March, Mitch Kapor, “Where Is the Digital Highway Really Heading?”, in Wired Magazine:
"However, some have accused cyberspace of provoking a dangerous collapse in the old order of civilised society. The shift in the balance of power online has given rise to a more powerful concern: the rise of the uncivil web."
— 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian:
"If, as we knew with increasing certainty, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and others were contesting us in cyberspace, it was time to fight back."
— 2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 175:
"“We call on all states, including China, to uphold their international commitments and obligations and to act responsibly in the international system, including in cyberspace,” according to a statement from NATO."
— 2021 July 19, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, David E. Sanger, quoting NATO, “U.S. Formally Accuses China of Hacking Microsoft”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
"I knew every chip in Bobby's simulator by heart; it looked like your workaday Ono-Sendai VII, the ‘Cyberspace Seven’, but I'd rebuilt it so many times that you'd have had a hard time finding a square millimetre of factory circuitry in all that silicon."
— 1982 July, William Gibson, “Burning Chrome”, in Omni, volume 4, number 10, page 72:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Avatars interact in a vast digital world known as ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Tom and Mary met in ____.