radionicsn.1
/ˌreɪdɪˈɒnɪks/, U.S. /ˌreɪdiˈɑnɪks/ A form of alternative medicine based on the supposition that characteristic radiation is emitted by living and other substances and can be detected and used in diagnosis and treatment at a distance, often with only a hair or blood sample from the patient, using a combination of extrasensory perception and special instruments. Cf. radiesthesia n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the paranormal > [noun] > detection of radiation > radionics
radionics1928
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatment by radiation > [noun] > study of radiation treatment
radionics1928
1928 Davenport (Iowa) Democrat & Leader 2 Oct. 20/1 We can do with chiropractic all and more than can be done with radionics.
1954 Brit. Jrnl. Radiesthesia 1 iii. 18 Radiesthesia..applied to the use of the pendulum, Radionics..applied to instrumental detection and use, and Dowsing, the use of the Divining Rod.
1960 Spectator 28 Oct. 653 The founder of what today is known as radionics was Dr. Albert Abrams (1863–1924), a..physician who came to believe that the basis of disease was atomic or electronic..and that disease could therefore be treated by giving healthy radiations to neutralise the unhealthy ones.
1976 T. Graves Dowsing xii. 124 Radionics, the specific form of medical dowsing which uses as its instrument a ‘box’ containing a number of dials in a particular sequence or pattern, seems to be a compound-word formed from ‘radiesthetic electronics’—so the word is another product of the tangle over the assumed physical basis of dowsing.
1988 Here's Health May 31/3 Radionics can be done from a distance without the presence of the patient using only a strand of hair.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
radionicsn.2
/ˌreɪdɪˈɒnɪks/, U.S. /ˌreɪdiˈɑnɪks/ U.S. rare (now historical).
Electronics, esp. as applied to radio technology.The word was promoted by U.S. radio manufacturer E. F. McDonald as an alternative to electronics, but it achieved little currency, though it continues in proprietary names. Cf. radionic adj.2
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > [noun] > branches of
thermionics1909
hi-fi1938
photoelectronics1940
radionics1943
optoelectronics1959
acoustoelectronics1968
optronics1968
ovonics1968
mechatronics1976
molecular electronics1983
biomechatronics1988
1943 Chicago Sunday Tribune 17 Jan. iii. 4/3 Dr. Arthur F. Van Dyck, president of the Institute of Radio Engineers, has suggested that ‘radionics’ is a better word than ‘electronics’.
1943 E. F. McDonald in Chicago Sunday Tribune 17 Jan. iii. 4/3 Most of the leaders of the radio industry to whom I have talked feel that the American term ‘radionics’ is more descriptive and less confusing.
1943 Proc. IRE 31 192 He [sc. Hitler] was stopped because the RAF had gone him one better on the new weapon which had paced his early victories, the only new weapon this war has produced: Radionics.
2002 C. H. Sterling & J. M. Kittross Stay Tuned (ed. 3) v. 204 Commander McDonald may not have made ‘Radionics’ a household word for radio-electronics, but [etc.].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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