IMPERIAL

TERMINOLOGY

All terms defined below come from Dune, pages 513 - 533.
Copyright ©1965 by Frank Herbert

A

ABA: loose robe worn by Fremen women; usually black.

ACH: left turn: a worm-steersman's call.

ADAB: the demanding memory that comes upon you of itself.

AKARSO: a plant native to Sikun (of 70 Ophiuchi A) characterized by almost
oblong leaves. Its green and white stripes indicate the constant multiple
condition of parallel active and dormant chlorophyll regions.

ALAM AL-MITHAL: the mystical world of similitudes where all physical
limitations are removed.

AL-LAT: mankind's original sun; by usuage: any planet's primary.

AMPOLIROS: the legendary "Flying Dutchman" of space.

AMTAL or AMTAL RULE: a common rule of primitive worlds under which
something is tested to determine its limits or defects. Commonly: testing
to destruction.

AQL: the test of reason. Originally, the "Seven Mystic Questions"
beginning: "Who is it that thinks?"

ARRAKEEN: first settlement on Arrakis; long-time seat of planetary
government.

ARRAKIS: the planet known as Dune; third planet of Canopus.

ASSASSINS' HANDBOOK: Third-century compilation of poisons commonly used in
a War of Assassins. Later expanded to include those deadly devices
permitted under the Guild Peace and Great Convention.

AULIYA: In the Zensunni Wanderers' religion, the female at the left hand of
God; God's handmaiden.

AUMAS: poison administered in food. (Specifically: poison in solid food.)
In some dialects: Chaumas.

AYAT: the signs of life. (See Burhan.)

B                         

BAKKA: in Fremen legend, the weeper who mourns for all mankind.

BAKLAWA: a heavy pastry made with date syrup.

BALISET: a nine-stringed musical instrument, lineal descendant of the
zithra, tuned to the Chusuk scale and played by strumming. Favorite
instrument of Imperial troubadors.

BARADYE PISTOL: a static-charge dust gun developed on Arrakis for laying
down a large dye marker area on sand.

BARAKA: a living holy man of magical powers.

BASHAR (often Colonel Bashar): an officer of the Sardaukar a fractional
point above Colonel in the standardized military classification. Rank
created for military ruler of a planetary subdistrict. (Bashar of the Corps
is a title reserved strictly for military use.)

BATTLE LANGUAGE: any special language of restricted etymology developed for
clear-speech communication in warfare.

BEDWINE: see Ichwan Bedwine

BELA TEGEUSE: fifth planet of Kuentsing: third stopping place of the
Zensunni (Fremen) forced migration.

BENE GESSERIT: the ancient school of mental and physical training
established primarily for female students after the Butlerian Jihad
destroyed the so-called "thinking machines" and robots.

B.G.: idiomatic for Bene Gesserit except when used with a date. With a date
it signifies Before Guild and identifies the Imperial dating system based
on the genesis of the Spacing Guild's monopoly.

BHOTANI JIB: see Chakobsa.

BI-LA KAIFA: Amen. (Literally: "Nothing further need be explained.")

BINDU: relating to the human nervous system, especially to nerve training.
Often expressed as Bindu-nervature.

BINDU SUSPENSION: a special form of catalepsis, self-induced.

BLED: flat, open desert.

BOURKA: insulated mantle worn by Fremen in the open desert.

BURHAN: the proofs of life. (Commonly: the ayat and burhan of life. See
Ayat.)

BURSEG: a commanding general of the Sardaukar.

BUTLERIAN JIHAD: see Jihad, Butlerian (also Great Revolt).

            

C

CAID: Sardaukar officer rank given to a military official whose duties call
mostly for dealings with civilians; a military governorship over a full
planetary district; above the rank of Bashar but not equal to Burseg.

CALADAN: third planet of Delta Pavonis; birthworld of Paul-Muad-Dib

CANTO and RESPONDU: an invocation rite, part of the panoplia propheticus of
the Missionaria Protectiva.

CARRYALL: a flying wing (commonly "wing"), the aerial workhorse of Arrakis,
used to transport large spice mining, hunting, and refining equipment.

CATCHPOCKET: any stillsuit pocket where filtered water is caught and
stored.

CHAKOBSA: the so-called "magnetic language" derived in part from the
ancient Bhotani (Bhotani Jib--jib meaning dialect). A collection of ancient
dialects modified by needs of secrecy, but chiefly the hunting language of
the Bhotani, the hired assassins of the first Wars of Assassins.

CHAUMAS (Aumas in some dialects): poison in solid food as distinguished
from poison administered in some other way.

CHAUMURKY (Musky or Murky in some dialects): poison administered in a
drink.

CHEOPS: pyramid chess; nine-level chess with the double object of putting
your queen at the apex and the opponent's king in check.

CHEREM: a brotherhood of hate (usually for revenge).

CHOAM: acronym for Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles--the universal
development corporation controlled by the Emperor and Great Houses with the
Guild and Bene Gesserit as silent partners.

CHUSUK: fourth planet of Theta Shalish; the so-called "Music Planet" noted
for the quality of its musical instruments. (See Varota.)

CIELAGO: any modified Chiroptera of Arrakis adapted to carry distrans
messages.

CONE OF SILENCE: the field of a distorter that limits the carrying power of
the voice or any other vibrator by damping the vibrations with an
image-vibration 180 degrees out of phase.

CORIOLIS STORM: any major sandstorm on Arrakis where winds across the open
flatlands are amplified by the planet's own revolutionary motion to reach
speeds up to 700 kilometers per hour.

CORRIN, BATTLE OF: the space battle from which the Imperial House of
Corrino took its name. The battle fought near Sigma Draconis in the year 88
B.G. settled the ascendancy of the ruling House from Salusa Secondus.

COUSINES: blood relations beyond cousins.

CRUSHERS: military space vessels composed of many smaller vessels locked
together and designed to fall on an enemy position, crushing it.

CUTTERAY: short-range version of lasgun used mostly as a cutting tool and
surgeon's scalpel.

CRYSKNIFE: the sacred knife of the Fremen on Arrakis. It is manufactured in
two forms from teeth taken from dead sandworms. The two forms are "fixed"
and "unfixed." An unfixed knife requires proximity to a human body's
electrical field to prevent disintegration. Fixed knives are treated for
storage. All are about 20 centimeters long.

D                              

DAR AL-HIKMAN: school of religious translation or interpretation.

DARK THINGS: idiomatic for the infectious superstitions taught by the
Missionaria Protectiva to susceptible civilizations.

DEATH TRIPOD: originally, the tripod upon which desert executioners hanged
their vicitims. By usuage: the three members of a Cherem sworn to the same
revenge.

DERCH: right turn; a worm steersman's call.

DEW COLLECTORS or DEW PRECIPITATORS: not to be confused with dew gatherers.
Collectors or precipitators are egg-shaped devices about four centimeters
on the long axis. They are made of chromoplastic that turns a reflecting
white when subjected to light, and reverts to transparency in darkness. The
collector forms a markedly cold surface upon which dawn dew will
precipitate. They are used by Fremen to line concave planting depressions
where they provide a small but reliable source of water.

DEW GATHERERS: workers who reap dew from the plants of Arrakis, using a
scythelike dew reaper.

DEMIBROTHERS: sons of concubines in the same household and certified as
having the same father.

DICTUM FAMILIA: that rule of the Great Convention which porhibits the
slaying of a royal person or member of a Great House by informal treachery.
The rule sets up the formal outline and limits the means of assassination.

DISTRANS: a device for producing a temporary neural imprint on the nervous
system of Chiroptera or birds. The creature's normal cry then carries the
message imprint which can be sorted from that carrier wave by another
distrans.

DRUM SAND: impaction of sand in such a waythat any sudden blow against its
surface produces a distant drum sound.

DOORSEAL: a portable plastic hermetic seal used for moisture security in
Fremen overday cave camps.

DUMP BOXES: the general term for any cargo container of irregular shape and
equipped with ablation surfaces and suspensor damping system. They are used
to dump material from space onto a planet's surface.

DUNE MEN: idiomatic for open sand workers, spice hunters and the like on
Arrakis. Sandworkers. Spiceworkers.

DUST CHASM: any deep crevasse or depression on the desert of Arrakis that
has been filled with dust not apparently different from the surrounding
surface; a deadly trap because human or animal will sink in it and smother.
(See Tidal Dust Basin.)

E

ECAZ: fourth planet of Alpha Centauri B; the sculptors' paradise, so called
bcause it is the home of fogwood, the plant growth capable of being shaped
in situ solely by the power of human thought.

EGO-LIKENESS: portraiture reproduced through a shigawire projector that is
capable of reproducing subtle movements said to convey the ego essence.

ELACCA DRUG: narcotic formed by burning blood-grained elacca wood of Ecas.
Its effect is to remove most of the will to self-preservation. Druggee skin
shows a characteristic carrot color. Commonly used to prepare slave
gladiators for the ring.

EL-SAYAL: the "rain of sand." A fall of dust which has been carried to
medium altitude (around 2,000 meters) by a coriolis storm. El-sayals
frequently bring moisture to ground level.

ERG: an extensive dune area, a sea of sand.

F

FAI: the water tribute, chief specie of tax on Arrakis.

FANMETAL: metal formed by the growing of jasmium crystals in duraluminum;
noted for extreme tensile strength in relationship to weight. Name derives
from its common use in collapsible structures that are opened by "fanning"
them out.

FAUFRELUCHES: the rigid rule of class distinction enforced by the Imperium.
"A place for every man and every man in his place."

FEDAYKIN: Fremen death commandos; historically: a group formed and pledged
to give their lives to right and wrong.

FILMBOOK: any shigwire imprint used in training and carrying a mnemonic
pulse.

FILT-PLUG: a nose filter unit worn with a stillsuit to capture moisture
from exhaled breath.

FIQH: knowledge, religious law; one of the half-legendary origins of the
Zensunni Wanderers' religion.

FIRE, PILLAR OF: a simple pyrocket for signalling across the open desert.

FIRST MOON: the major satellite of Arrakis, first to rise in the night;
notable for a distinct human fist pattern on its surface.

FREE TRADERS: idiomatic for smugglers.

FREMEN: the free tribes of Arrakis, dwellers in the desert, remnants of the
Zensunni Wanderers. ("Sand Pirates" according to the Imperial Dictionary.)

FREMKIT: desert survival kit of Fremen manufacture.

FRIGATE: largest spaceship that can be grounded on a planet and taken off
in one piece.

G              
                                  

GALACH: official language of the Imperium. Hybrid Inglo-Slavic with strong
traces of culture-specialization terms adopted during the long chain of
human migrations.

GAMONT: third planet of Niushe; noted for its hedonistic culture and exotic
sexual practices.

GARE: butte.

GATHERING: distinguished from Council Gathering. It is a formal convocation
of Fremen leaders to witness a combat that determines tribal leadership. (A
Council Gathering is an assembly to arrive at decisions involving all the
tribes.)

GEYRAT: straight ahead; a worm steersman's call.

GHAFLA: giving oneself up to gadfly distractions. Thus: a changeable
person, one not to be trusted.

GHANIMA: something acquired in battle or a single combat. Commonly, a
memento of combat kept only to stir the memory.

GIEDI PRIME: the planet of Ophiuchi B (36), homeworld of House Harkonnen. A
median-viable planet with a low active-photosynthesis range.

GINAZ, HOUSE OF: one-time allies of Duke Leto Atreides. They were defeated
in the War of Assassins with Grumman.

GIUDICHAR: a holy truth. (Commonly seen in the expression Giudichar
mantene: an original and supporting truth.)

GLOWGLOBE: suspensor-buoyed illuminating device, self-powered (usually by
organic batteries).

GRABEN: a long geological ditch formed when the ground sinks because of
movements in the underlying crustal layers.

GREAT CONVENTION: the universal truce enforced under the power balance
maintained by the Guild, the Great Houses, and the Imperium. Its chief rule
prohibits the use of atomic weapons against human targets. Each rule of the
Great Convention begins: "The forms must be obeyed. . . ."

GREAT MOTHER: the horned goddess, the feminine principle of space
(commonly: Mother Space), the feminine face of the male-female-neuter
trinity accepted as Supreme Being by many religions within the Imperium.

GREAT REVOLT: common term for the Butlerian Jihad. (See Jihad, Butlerian.)

GRIDEX PLANE: a differential-change separator used to remove sand from the
melange spice mass; a device of the second stage in spice refining.

GRUMMAN: second planet of Niushe, noted chiefly for the feud of its ruling
House (Moritani) with House Ginaz.

GOM JABBAR: the high-handed enemy; that specific poison needle tipped with
meta-cyanide used by Bene Gesserit Proctors in the death-alternative test
of human awareness.

GUILD: the Spacing Guild, one leg of the political tripod maintaining the
Great Convention. The Guild was the second mental-physical training school
(see Bene Gesserit) after the Butlerian Jihad. The Guild monopoly on space
travel and transport and upon international banking is taken as the
beginning point of the Imperial Calendar.

H
              
HAGAL: the "Jewel Planet" (II Theta Shaowei) mined out in the time of
Shaddam I.

HAIIIII-YOH!: command to action; worm steersman's call.

HAJJ: holy journey.

HARJ: desert journey, migration.

HAJRA: journey of seeking.

HAL YAWM: "Now! At last!" a Fremen exclamation.

HARMONTHEP: Ingsley gives this as the planet name for the sixth stop in the
Zensunni migration. It is supposed to have been a no longer existent
satellite of Delta Pavonis.

HARVESTER or HARVESTER FACTORY: a large (often 120 meters by 40 meters)
spice mining machine commonly employed on rich, uncontaminated melange
blows. (Often called a "crawler" because of buglike bodyon independent
tracks.)

HEIGHLINER: major cargo carrier of the Spacing Guild's transportation
system.

HIEREG: temporary Fremen desert camp on open sand.

HIGH COUNCIL: the Landsraad inner circle empowered to act as supreme
tribunal in House to House disputes.

HOLTZMAN EFFECT: the negative repelling effect of a shield generator.

HOOKMAN: Fremen with Maker hooks prepared to catch a sandworm.

HOUSE: idiomatic for Ruling Clan of a planet or planetary system.

HOUSES MAJOR: holders of planetary fiefs; interplanetary entrepreneurs.
(See House above.)

HOUSES MINOR: planet-bound entrepreneur class (Galach: "Richece").

HUNTER-SEEKER: a ravening sliver of suspensor-buoyed metal guided as a
weapon by a near-by control console; a common assassination device.

 I             
                                

IBAD, EYES OF: characteristic effect of a diet high in melange wherein the
whites and pupils of the eyes turn a deep blue (indicative of deep malange
addiction).

IBN QIRTAIBA: "Thus go the hold words. . . ." Formal beginning to Fremen
religious incantation (derived from panoplia propheticus).

ICHWAN BEDWINE: the brotherhood of all Fremen on Arrakis.

IJAZ: prophecy that by its very nature cannot be denied; immutable
prophecy.

IKHUT-EIGH!: cry of the water-seller on Arrakis (etymology uncertain). See
Soo-Soo Sook!

ILM: theology; science of religious tradition; one of the half-legendary
origins of the Zensunni Wanderers' faith.

IMPERIAL CONDITIONING: a development of the Suk Medical Schools: the
highest conditioning against taking human life. Initiates are marked by a
diamond tattoo on the forehead and are permitted to wear their hair long
and bound by a silver Suk ring.

INKVINE: a creeping plant native to Giedi Prime and frequently used to whip
in the slave cribs. Victims are marked by beet-colored tattoos that cause
residual pain for many years.

ISTISLAH: a rule for the general welfare; usually a preface to brutal
necessity.

IX: see Richese.