sub-ethericadj.
/ˌsʌbiːˈθɛrɪk/, /ˌsʌbᵻˈθɛrɪk/, U.S. /ˌsəbəˈθɛrɪk/ Chiefly Science Fiction.
Of, relating to, or involving a sub-ether (often with allusion to a supposed means of faster-than-light communication).
ΚΠ
1914 Theosophist June 318 All the varieties of matter in any world—those which in our physical world we call ‘states of matter’, solid, liquid, gaseous, sub-etheric, etheric, sub-atomic—are all formed of aggregations of the ultimate atom.
1938 Astounding Sci.-Fiction May 22/2 Scansion depends upon a special curved field, through which a sub-etheric radiation is bent into the time-axis, projected forward, and reflected from electronic fields back to the instrument.
1951 I. Asimov Stars, like Dust x. 105 I didn't even know how to use the sub-etheric communication system, so that I couldn't SOS.
1983 D. Duane Wounded Sky v. 78 Gravity waves and other such ‘sub-etheric’ disturbances can theoretically be propagated in such a fashion, affecting us even in warp.
2001 M. H. Whitworth Einstein's Wake (2004) v. 162 In Schrödinger's theory, the universe is filled with a rippling sub-aetheric medium.
2009 P. Di Filippo in P. Crowther We think, therefore we Are x. 183 They received frequent progress reports from Neu Trina via subetheric transmission.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1914