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Warp speed
If you're traveling in a spacecraft at a speed faster than light, you're moving at
warp speed. The word
warp comes from the Old English
wearp which refers to threads running over fabric. In the 20th century, it became popular to conceptualize space and its relation to time as a fabric. The first known usage of
warp in relation to speed was in a 1968
Star Trek script, 'All Our Yesterdays.' Since its debut in English,
warp speed has taken on metaphorical senses outside the realm of space."
Source:
10 Words Coined in the Sci-Fi Universe