steampunk

Etymology

steam + -punk, by analogy with cyberpunk, coined by science-fiction writer Kevin Wayne Jeter (born 1950) in a 1987 letter to the magazine Locus in response to a review of his book Infernal Devices published the same year (see the quotation below).

noun

1. (uncountable) A subgenre of science fiction that depicts advanced technology combined with Victorian style and aesthetics, such as steam-powered machines and vehicles, visible gears and screws and people dressed in 19th-century attires.
   There's railroad trains, a lot of steam-driven stuff, but that's about it. More ‘steam punk’, I suppose. 1987 May, James Blaylock, Locus, volume 20, number 5 (#316 overall), page 57
   It is also the vision of steampunk, a subculture that is the aesthetic expression of a time-traveling fantasy world, one that embraces music, film, design and now fashion, all inspired by the extravagantly inventive age of dirigibles and steam locomotives, brass diving bells and jar-shaped protosubmarines. May 8, 2008, Ruth La Ferla, “Steampunk moves between 2 worlds”, in The New York Times
   The [Arboath North Signal Box] locking room's collection of chains, pulleys and wires resembles the inside of a piano, stretching to the 72-levered frame above. Lovers of steampunk will find it especially pleasing. November 3 2021, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Boxes with functions across the centuries”, in RAIL, number 943, page 57
2. (countable) A writer of steampunk fiction.
   Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, [James] Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like steam-punks, perhaps... 1987 April, Kevin Wayne Jeter, “[Untitled letter]”, in Locus, volume 20, number 4 (#315 overall), archived from the original on 2014-08-30, page 57
3. (countable, cosplay) A person cosplaying as a steampunk character.
   It wound up being an overwhelmingly positive experience that made me appreciate the steampunks around me even more. 2009 September, Klaude Davenport, “An interview with Emmett and Klaude Davenport of the Clockwork Cabaret”, in Exhibition Hall, number 1, page 6
   It is extremely rare that you speak to someone who says "I want to be an ...." This would suggest that for the vast majority of steampunks their choice of outfit (at least intitially) is less a conscious attempt at portrayal and more of a spontaneous and potentially subconscious growth of an idea. 24 September 2010, John Naylor, “Re: [Steam-Scholars] Hello again and a query”, in steam-scholars mailing list, message-ID <45b85.6b512dc6.39cddc00@aol.com>

verb

1. (transitive) To depict in a steampunk manner.
   [Director Paul W.S.] Anderson's answer to the question of what to update in this film seems to be: steampunk everything. Hence the elaborate airship contraptions and weapons, all made in wood and iron and powered by choo-choo engines. What seems to be missing is the why. When far-fetched techno-bits and bobs are put into a story, these items must have a meaning and purpose. Here, the gadgets are throwaway items used for their visual effect, then discarded. 26 October 2011, John Lui, “Musketeers victim of identity crisis [review of The Three Musketeers (2011)]”, in The Straits Times (Life! section), Singapore
   There is also a strong draw on literature and film for ideas. Some steampunks will take a favorite character, such as Boba Fett, Alice, Dorothy, Professor Snape, or Sherlock Holmes, and “steampunk” him or her out by adding elements of leather (or faux leather), gears, clock parts, electricity, motors, and so on. 2012, Sybil Fogg, “Mechomancy: Steampunk Sensibilities in Pagan Traditions”, in Llewellyn's 2013 Magical Almanac: Practical Magic for Everyday Living, Woodbury, Minn.: Llewellyn Worldwide, page 90