What does vril mean?
Vril is a rare literary noun for an imaginary energy source introduced by the English novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton in his 1871 novel The Coming Race. In the story, vril is a fluid associated with a subterranean people whose command of it gives them remarkable strength and technological capabilities. The invention is an early example of a fictional scientific principle used to explain otherwise unexplained powers. Although its original fictional meaning is unusual, writers have occasionally adopted vril as a figurative term for hidden energy, vitality, or immense human potential. It now sounds unmistakably like speculative fiction and can carry nostalgic or humorous associations with Victorian ideas of mysterious powers. Outside references to Bulwer-Lytton and the history of science fiction, the word is mainly nostalgic or deliberately extravagant rather than ordinary English.
nounAn imaginary fluid or energy said by Bulwer-Lytton to be present in a legendary subterranean race and capable of producing extraordinary physical power. The term occasionally survives in speculative writing as a metaphor for latent energy or vitality.
- The imaginary fluid or energy imagined by Bulwer-Lytton as the source of a legendary race's superhuman strength.
- By extension, a rare literary metaphor for latent vitality, energy, or extraordinary power.
"In Bulwer-Lytton's The Coming Race, the hidden people draw astonishing strength from vril."
"In Bulwer-Lytton's The Coming Race, the hidden people draw astonishing physical strength from vril."
"The engineer claimed the machine had rediscovered vril, though the name was already more mythology than science."
Vril is normally treated as an uncountable noun, although the plural form vrils is occasionally recorded.
"Later fantasy writers imagined vrils as sources of supernatural energy."
In a 1871 novel, a made-up fluid called vril became the power source of a superhuman civilization—and the word still sounds like science fiction because it essentially was.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of vril
Vril was coined by Edward Bulwer-Lytton for his novel The Coming Race, first published in 1871. Bulwer-Lytton presented the term as derived from Sanskrit, but its relationship to attested Sanskrit vocabulary is uncertain and disputed. It consequently has no generally recognized cognate family beyond its own rare literary use in English.
How vril is actually used
Rare and literary, especially in science fiction and discussions of Bulwer-Lytton; it is often capitalized when referring directly to the fictional fluid or its original concept. Outside those contexts, it sounds deliberately archaic or fanciful.
Easily confused with vril
Vril denotes an imaginary source of energy or power, whereas viral usually means spreading rapidly through an audience or population, as with a viral video or viral disease.