A physical object, or simply object, was a term that described a thing with a fixed shape or form, which could be seen or touched, and which was not alive.
In 2265, the disaster recorder of the SS Valiant was described as an "object" by Lee Kelso and James T. Kirk. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before")
Solid objects
A solid object was a term to describe a thing which was solid.
Individuals with extrasensory perception had the ability of seeing through solid objects. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before")
While in objective mode, holodeck users could pass through solid objects which made up the holographic environment. (ENT: "These Are The Voyages...")
Inanimate objects
He is not an inanimate object. He's so animate he makes me nervous. In fact, I keep expecting one of these plants of yours to grab me.Janice Rand
An inanimate object (antonym: animate) was any object that was not alive or sentient. To speak of said object as if it were alive was known as personification.
While aboard the automated repair station and watching a molecular synthesizer at work, T'Pol noted that she saw a similar device aboard a Tarkalean vessel which was capable to reproduce any inanimate object. (ENT: "Dead Stop")
Captain Jonathan Archer remarked that the Vissian engineer spoke about the cogenitor like an inanimate object. (ENT: "Cogenitor")
When Hikaru Sulu notified his lack of understanding why people have to call inanimate objects "she", Janice Rand stated that Beauregard was not an inanimate object. (TOS: "The Man Trap")
Spock defended Captain James T. Kirk during his court martial, he compared how "Human beings have characteristics just as inanimate objects do," with the underlining correlation between the two being "it is not [their] nature." (TOS: "Court Martial")
Sybo was able to receive impressions from inanimate objects. (TOS: "Wolf in the Fold")
According to Spock, "the sand-bats of Manark IV appear to be inanimate rock crystals, [..] until they attack." (TOS: "The Empath")
Tuvok never understood the Human compulsion to emotionally bond with inanimate objects. He observed this fact in an alternate 2374, after Captain Kathryn Janeway described how "Voyager's done too much for us," during the Year of Hell. From Tuvok's perspective, "this vessel has done nothing. It is an assemblage of bulkheads, conduits, tritanium. Nothing more." Janeway, however, further expressed her feelings on how she felt he was wrong, stating that "It's much more than that. This ship has been our home. It's kept us together. It's been part of our family. As illogical as this might sound, I feel as close to Voyager as I do to any other member of my crew. It's carried us [...] even nurtured us [...] and right now it needs one of us." (VOY: "Year of Hell")
See also
- Energy object
- Kerr object
- Life object
- Man-made object
- Mechanized object
- Natural object
- Plane-polarized object
- Stellar object/Celestial object
- Test object
- Three-dimensional object
- Unidentified flying object
- Lifelessness
- Reanimation
- Suspended animation