cyberspace

[ sahy-ber-speys ]

noun

1. the realm of electronic communication.
2. virtual reality.

cyberspace

/ ˈsaɪbəˌspeɪs /

noun

1. all of the data stored in a large computer or network represented as a three-dimensional model through which a virtual-reality user can move

cyberspace

/ sī′bər-spās′ /

1. The electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.

cyberspace

1. The space in which computer transactions occur, particularly transactions between different computers. We say that images and text on the Internet exist in cyberspace, for example. The term is also often used in conjunction with virtual reality , designating the imaginary place where virtual objects exist. For example, if a computer produces a picture of a building that allows the architect to “walk” through and see what a design would look like, the building is said to exist in cyberspace.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cyberspace¹

First recorded in 1980–85; cyber(netics) ( def ) + space none; coined by American-Canadian sci-fi author William Gibson (born 1948)

Example Sentences

In a 1996 essay that was republished by 500 websites – the closest you could get to going viral back then – US poet and cattle rancher John Perry Barlow argued: “Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.”

From BBC

Just as Barlow, in his 1996 essay, told governments they were not welcome in Cyberspace, some online users might have a similar message to give to social media algorithms.

From BBC

The great irony is that modern life and culture’s hapless dependence on a functional internet—CrowdStrike, anyone?—makes it imperative that vast troves of history be copied in some form onto cyberspace; otherwise, it might as well not exist.

From Slate

“A DDoS attack sends a very large number of signals to an online target to disrupt it,” Anthony Lim, Director of the Centre for Strategic Cyberspace and International Studies in Singapore, told the BBC.

From BBC

This internet-transforming decision will not, cannot, upturn all of cyberspace overnight—the overall tech-stock plunge notwithstanding.

From Slate

Related Words

• computer network
• information technology
• web