Udtrykket er på engelsk en [[Kompositum|forbindelse]] dannet af ''psi'' (i betydningen "psychic phenomena" eller "[[Parapsykologi|psykiske fænomener]]") og -''onics'', på dansk -''onik'', fra ''electronics'', på dansk ''[[elektronik]]''.<ref name="Williams"/><ref>{{cite web|title=psionic|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=psionic|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=2014-01-29|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Joyce|first1=Judith|title=The Weiser Field Guide to the Paranormal: Abductions, Apparitions, ESP, Synchronicity, and More Unexplained Phenomena from Other Realms|date=2011|publisher=Weiser Books|location=San Francisco, California|isbn=978-1609252984|page=157|quote=''Psionic'' is a word invented in the 20th century as an umbrella term to describe human paranormal behavior. It refers to all powers of the mind—from the passive (telepathy or clairvoyance) to the active (telekinesis or pyrokinesis). Psionics is the study of all these powers.}}</ref><ref>Gardner, Martin (1957), ''[[Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science]]'' (Expanded/revised ed.), New York: Dover Publications, p. 346.</ref> Ordet "psionics" eller "psionik" begyndte som og er altid forblevet et kunstord inden for [[Science fiction-fans|Science fiction-samfundet]]<ref>Nicholls, Peter: Entry, "Psionics" in Clute, John; Nicholls, Peter (1995), ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', New York: St. Martin's Press, p. 971. This brief entry states that "psionics" is "a common item of s[cience] f[iction] terminology, referring to the study and use of psi powers, under which head it is discussed."</ref> og – på trods af støtte fra redaktøren [[John W. Campbell|John W. Campbell Jr]] – opnåede det aldrig generel betydning, selv blandt akademiske parapsykologer. I årene efter udtrykkets opfindelse i 1951, blev det mere og mere tydeligt, at ingen videnskabelige beviser understøtter eksistensen af "psioniske" evner. <ref>{{cite book|last1=Cordón|first1=Luis A.|title=Popular Psychology: an Encyclopedia|date=2005|publisher=Greenwood|location=Wesport, Connecticut|isbn=0313324573|page=[https://archive.org/details/popularpsycholog0000cord/page/182 182]|quote=The essential problem is that a large portion of the scientific community, including most research psychologists, regards parapsychology as a pseudoscience, due largely to its failure to move beyond null results in the way science usually does. Ordinarily, when experimental evidence fails repeatedly to support a hypothesis, that hypothesis is abandoned. Within parapsychology, however, more than a century of experimentation has failed to conclusively demonstrate the mere existence of paranormal phenomenon, yet parapsychologists continue to pursue that elusive goal.|url=https://archive.org/details/popularpsycholog0000cord/page/182}}</ref>
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