Glosario de Dune (franquicia)

Esta es una lista de términos utilizados en el universo ficticio de Dune creado por Frank Herbert , cuya fuente principal es "Terminología del Imperio", el glosario que aparece en la novela Dune (1965).

La construcción del vocabulario de Dune podría clasificarse en tres dominios, cada uno marcado por su propia neología : los nombres y términos relacionados con la política y la cultura del Imperio, los nombres y términos característicos de la hermandad mística de las Bene Gesserit , y el árabe apenas desplazado del idioma Fremen . Los Fremen comparten vocabulario para los fenómenos Arrakeen con el Imperio, pero utilizan un vocabulario completamente diferente para la religión mesiánica implantada por las Bene Gesserit . ^{[ 1 ]}

Debido a las similitudes entre algunos términos e ideas de Herbert y palabras y conceptos reales en los idiomas árabe y hebreo , así como a los matices y temas islámicos de la serie , se ha señalado repetidamente una influencia de Oriente Medio en las obras de Herbert. ^{[ 1 ] [ 2 ]} Se utilizan más de ochenta términos de origen árabe, varios otros préstamos de lenguas indoeuropeas como el alemán y el persa, y palabras del navajo , lengua norteamericana Na-Dene . ^{[ 3 ]}

• Aba – Una túnica suelta, generalmente negra, usada por las mujeres Fremen y las hermanas Bene Gesserit . ^{[ 4 ]}
• Abominación – término Bene Gesserit para aquel que es pre-nacido y, por lo tanto, susceptible de ser poseído por las personalidades ancestrales en Otra Memoria . ^{[ 5 ]}
• Ajidamal (o Amal) – Mezcla sintética desastrosamente defectuosa creada por el Proyecto Tleilaxu Amal antes de que se perfeccionara el proceso de producción de especias en tanques de ajolotes . ^{[ 6 ]}
• Akarso – "Planta nativa de Sikun (de 70 Ophiuchi A ) caracterizada por hojas casi oblongas. Sus rayas verdes y blancas indican la condición múltiple constante de regiones paralelas de clorofila activa y latente ." ^{[ 4 ]}
• Arafel – La “oscuridad nubosa del juicio sagrado” ^{[ 7 ]} o “oscuridad nubosa al final del universo”; ^{[ 7 ] [ 8 ]} el fin de la humanidad (tal como fue) evitado por el Camino Dorado de Leto II . ^{[ 7 ]}
• Tanque de ajolotes : tanque biológico en el que se pueden producir gholas y melange. ^{[ 9 ]}
• Manual del Asesino – «Compilación del siglo III de venenos comúnmente utilizados en una Guerra de Asesinos . Posteriormente ampliada para incluir aquellos dispositivos letales permitidos bajo la Paz del Gremio y la Gran Convención ». ^{[ 4 ]}

• Baliset – "Instrumento musical de nueve cuerdas, descendiente directo de la zitra , afinado en la escala Chusuk y tocado rasgueando. Instrumento favorito de los trovadores imperiales." ^{[ 4 ]} Gurney Halleck es un maestro tocando el baliset en la serie. ^{[ 5 ]} En la adaptación de Dune de David Lynch de 1984 , se usó un Chapman Stick modificado estéticamente para representar el instrumento. ^{[ 10 ]} En la miniserie Dune de Frank Herbert , el baliset se asemeja a un laúd de la época renacentista , con el clavijero doblado hacia atrás casi 90°. Se ha creado una versión real del baliset, dividida en dos secciones, la aguda tocada con la mano derecha y la grave con la izquierda. A diferencia de una guitarra, cada mano puede tocar acordes o notas individuales. ^{[ 11 ]}
• Bashar – Rango militar, ligeramente superior al de un coronel tradicional y utilizado principalmente para el líder militar de un subdistrito planetario; alternativamente, Coronel Bashar o Supremo Bashar para el comandante de mayor rango de un ejército. ^{[ 5 ]}
• Bene Gesserit – Orden matriarcal secreta y poderosa cuyos miembros poseen poderes físicos y mentales extraordinarios. ^{[ 5 ]}
• Bene Tleilax (o Tleilaxu): raza patriarcal secreta y poderosa conocida por sus tecnologías de manipulación genética. ^{[ 9 ]}
• Budismo islámico : término que designa a aquellas religiones derivadas de una fusión sincrética de denominaciones del budismo y el islam .
• Burseg – General militar. ^{[ 5 ]}
• Yihad Butleriana : la "cruzada de la humanidad contra las computadoras , las máquinas pensantes y los robots conscientes ". ^{[ 4 ]} El término yihad es de origen árabe. ^{[ 3 ]}

• Caid – "Rango de oficial Sardaukar otorgado a un oficial militar cuyas funciones implican principalmente tratos con civiles; Gobernación militar sobre un distrito planetario completo; Por encima del rango de Bashar pero no igual a Burseg." ^{[ 4 ]}
• Caladan – Planeta natal ancestral de la Casa Atreides. Un exuberante planeta oceánico con un clima húmedo y templado , Caladan había servido como hogar de los Atreides durante al menos veintiséis generaciones en el momento de la primera novela .
• Carryall – Aeronave utilizada en Arrakis para "transportar grandes equipos de extracción, caza y refinación de especias ". ^{[ 4 ]}
• Perros silla : criaturas vivientes y parcialmente conscientes creadas por los Tleilaxu, que se utilizan como asientos y poseen la capacidad de adaptarse a su ocupante. ^{[ 12 ]}
• Chakobsa – Idioma de Arrakis, utilizado por los Fremen para rituales y otros fines, inspirado en el idioma de caza caucásico del mismo nombre . ^{[ 5 ] [ 13 ]} El idioma fue desarrollado posteriormente por David J. Peterson y Jessie Peterson para las películas Dune (2021) y Dune: Parte Dos (2024). ^{[ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 16 ]}
• Chaumas (o Aumas) – "Veneno en alimentos sólidos, a diferencia del veneno administrado de otra manera". ^{[ 4 ]}
• Chaumurky (o Musky) – "Veneno administrado en una bebida". ^{[ 4 ]}
• CHOAM (Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles) – la " corporación de desarrollo universal controlada por el Emperador y las Grandes Casas con el Gremio y las Bene Gesserit como socios silenciosos". ^{[ 4 ]} Esta corporación controla esencialmente la economía del universo conocido, y las acciones y los cargos directivos determinan los ingresos y el poder financiero de cada Casa.
• Cogitor – Uno de varios filósofos antiguos cuyos cerebros son trasplantados a recipientes llenos de líquido para que puedan analizar el universo indefinidamente. ^{[ 17 ]}
• Communinet , ComNet o Comms : una red de comunicaciones planetarias local. Similar a las comunicaciones inalámbricas por radio , utiliza radiación electromagnética para transmitir audio y otra información. La emplean las fuerzas Atreides y Harkonnen para comunicarse y dar órdenes de batalla.
• Cono de silencio : Campo de amortiguación acústica de un distorsionador que limita la potencia de transmisión de la voz o de cualquier otro vibrador al amortiguar las vibraciones con una imagen-vibración desfasada 180 grados. ^{[ 4 ]} Utilizado para la privacidad, el campo no obstruye visualmente el movimiento de los labios. ^{[ 5 ]}
• Tormenta de Coriolis : tormentas de arena en Arrakis en las que "los vientos a través de las llanuras abiertas se amplifican por el propio movimiento revolucionario del planeta hasta alcanzar velocidades de hasta 700 kilómetros por hora". ^{[ 4 ]}
• Crysknife – Arma hecha del diente de un gusano de arena de Arrakis. ^{[ 4 ]}
• Cutterray – "Versión de corto alcance de un rifle láser utilizado principalmente como herramienta de corte y bisturí quirúrgico." ^{[ 4 ]}
• Cymek – Tipo de cíborg ; específicamente, un cerebro humano implantado en un cuerpo de máquina grande y armado. ^{[ 17 ]}

• Lobos D : Guardianes del Sareer en Arrakis en la época de Leto II Atreides ; lobos feroces descendientes de Sabuesos de Mirada y lobos comunes, "conocidos por su aguda vista". ^{[ 7 ]}
• Damper, Ixian – Dispositivo portátil que oculta las palabras a cualquiera que no posea el traductor codificado adecuado, y proyecta distorsiones que ocultan los movimientos precisos de los labios y los sonidos de las voces. Se describe como un «disco negro» suspendido en el aire por suspensores . ^{[ 8 ]}
• Destilador mortal : dispositivo Fremen utilizado para extraer toda la humedad de un ser humano o criatura, vivo o muerto. ^{[ 5 ]} Tradicionalmente, esto se hace para recuperar el preciado agua de los muertos, que ya no la necesitan; pero en Hijos de Dune, el dispositivo se utiliza como método de ejecución.
• Distrans – Dispositivo esteganográfico que produce una " impresión neuronal temporal en el sistema nervioso de quirópteros (murciélagos) o aves. El grito normal de la criatura transporta entonces la impresión del mensaje, que puede ser separada de esa onda portadora por otro distrans". ^{[ 4 ]}

• Droga de elacca : Narcótico producido a partir de la madera de elacca de Ecaz, de color rojizo; la piel de los consumidores presenta un característico color zanahoria . El efecto de la droga consiste en eliminar gran parte de la voluntad de autoconservación; se utiliza comúnmente para preparar a los gladiadores esclavos para la arena. ^{[ 4 ]}
• Representación del ego : retrato de una o más personas, reproducido mediante un proyector de fibra de Shiga, capaz de mostrar movimientos sutiles que, según se dice, transmiten los gestos y la esencia del ego de los sujetos.

• Bailarines Faciales : Criaturas creadas por las Bene Tleilax que pueden imitar a otros humanos con exactitud y pasar desapercibidas por todos los medios conocidos, excepto por las Bene Gesserit Adivinas. ^{[ 9 ]}
• Tiempos de hambruna – Años después del reinado de Leto II, marcados por el caos y la hambruna en muchos mundos, que llevaron a la Dispersión. ^{[ 7 ]}
• Faufreluches – "La rígida regla de distinción de clases impuesta por el Imperio. 'Un lugar para cada hombre y cada hombre en su lugar'." ^{[ 4 ]}
• Fedaykin – / f ɪ ˈ d aɪ k ɪ n / ^{[ 18 ]} " Comandos de la muerte Fremen ; históricamente: un grupo formado y comprometido a dar sus vidas para corregir una injusticia." ^{[ 4 ]} En Dune , son entrenados personalmente por Paul Atreides y le son ferozmente leales . ^{[ 5 ]} El término deriva del árabe Fedayeen . ^{[ 19 ]}
• Filmbook – Una impronta shigawire, utilizada para la formación y la educación, que lleva un pulso mnemotécnico que imprime información e imágenes correspondientes en la mente del lector. ^{[ 4 ]}
• Oradoras Pez – Fuerza militar exclusivamente femenina creada por Leto II Atreides para imponer su dominio sobre el universo conocido. ^{[ 7 ]}
• Fogwood – Planta nativa de Ecaz, capaz de ser moldeada solo con el pensamiento. ^{[ 20 ]}
• Foldspace – An extra-dimensional region outside of spacetime accessible using a Holtzman drive, and traversable only by Guild Navigators who have ingested vast amounts of the psychotropic drug melange.
• Fremen – "Native" inhabitants of Arrakis.^[5]
• Fremkit – Fremen desert survival kit. Notable contents include an inflatable stilltent, a sand snorkel, a thumper, and maker hooks.^[5]
• Frigate – A class of spacecraft employed as both a troop carrier and a battleship. It was said that all the frigates and transport ships of House Atreides occupied a single corner of a Guild Heighliner’s immense cargo hold.
• Futar – Primitive and fierce humanoid creatures, a genetic mix of human and cat, artificially created by the Bene Tleilax out in the Scattering to hunt Honored Matres. Introduced briefly in Heretics of Dune and appearing in Chapterhouse: Dune, the species are brought as captives to the "million planets" by the Honored Matres, who keep them as pets.^[8][21] Futars use their voice-like scream to immobilize Honored Matres, but the scream has no effect on the Bene Gesserit.^[22]

• Galach – Universal language of the Dune universe.^[4]
• Ghola – A type of Clone grown in an axlotl tank from genetic material retrieved from the cells of a deceased subject.^[9]
• Giedi Prime (later Gammu) – Homeworld of House Harkonnen. A dark, barren planet covered in buildings, factories, industrial plants and a heavy layer of pollution. This resulted in a low level of photosynthesis, leading to a severe lack of oxygen and the extinction of most animal and plant life on the planet’s surface.
• Glowglobe – "Suspensor-buoyed illuminating device, self-powered (usually by organic batteries)."^[4]
• Golden Lion Throne – Refers to both the physical throne upon which the Padishah Emperor sits, as well as the figurative position of the Emperor as the head of the Landsraad Council and ruler of the Known Universe.
• Golden Path – Leto II's strategy to prevent humanity's destruction.^[23]
• Gom jabbar – "Specific poison needle tipped with meta-cyanide used by Bene Gesserit Proctors in their death-alternative test of human awareness."^[4]
• Great Convention – "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."^[4]
• Guild Navigator – Melange-mutated humans able to safely navigate interstellar space (using prescience) in ships called Heighliners.^[5]

• Handlers – Humanoid race who bred and trained Futars to hunt Honored Matres.^[21]
• Harvester (also Harvester Factory or Crawler) – "Large (often 120 metres by 40 metres) spice mining machine ... [with a] buglike body on independent tracks."^[4]
• Heighliner – Enormous carrier starships used by the Spacing Guild for interstellar travel.^[4]
• Holtzman effect – Scientific phenomenon that makes (among other things) instantaneous space travel and defensive force shields possible.^[5]
• Honored Matres – Violent matriarchal order formed in the Scattering.^[8]
• Hunter-seeker – "Ravening sliver of suspensor-buoyed metal guided as a weapon by a nearby control console; common assassination device."^[4] Floating in mid-air, it kills by entering the body and following nerve pathways to vital organs. A hunter-seeker is employed in Dune in an assassination attempt on Paul Atreides.^[5]
• Hypnobong – Device in the shape of a concave base that induced a drug-like state. According to Reverend Mother Lucilla it is outlawed in most of the civilized worlds.^[8]

• Inkvine – "Creeping plant native to Giedi Prime and frequently used as a whip in its slave pens. Victims are marked by beet-colored tattoos that cause residual pain for many years."^[4]
• Ixian damper – Portable device which hides words from anyone without the proper coded translator, and projects distortions that hide the precise movements of lips and the sounds of voices. It is described as a "black disc" buoyed midair by suspensors.^[8]
• Ixian Probe – Device used to capture the thoughts of a person (living or dead) for analysis; can be blocked by the substance shere.^[8]

• Judge of the Change – "An official appointed by the Landsraad High Council and the Emperor to monitor a change of fief, a kanly negotiation, or formal battle in a War of Assassins. The Judge's arbitral authority may be challenged only before the High Council with the Emperor present."^[4]

• Kaitain – New homeworld of House Corrino (following the environmental destruction of Salusa Secundus) and capital of the Corrino Empire. Kaitain is also the location of the Imperial Court and Golden Lion Throne, as well as the meeting place of the Landsraad Council.
• Kanly – "Formal feud or vendetta under the rules of the Great Convention carried on according to the strictest limitations". Derived from kanlı, a Turkish word for a blood feud between Islamic tribes of the Caucasus.^[4][13][3]
• Kralizec – Long-foretold "Typhoon Struggle" or final "battle at the end of the universe".^[23]
• Krimskell fiber/Krimskell rope – "The 'claw fiber' woven from strands of the hufuf vine from Ecaz. Knots tied in krimskell will claw tighter and tighter to preset limits when the knot-lines are pulled."^[4]
• Kwisatz Haderach – "The Shortening of the Way" or "The one who can be two places simultaneously". Bene Gesserit label applied to "the unknown for which they sought a genetic solution: a male Bene Gesserit whose organic mental powers would bridge space and time."^[4] Originating from the Hebrew word kefitzat haderech.^[3]

• Landsraad – The Assembly of all nobles in the Imperium.^[5]
• Lasgun – Handheld energy weapon, technically a "continuous-wave laser projector;"^[4] also lasegun.
• Laza tiger – A breed of tiger brought to Salusa Secundus "almost eight thousand years" before the events of Children of Dune. "Genetic manipulation of the ancient Terran stock had erased some of the original tiger features and refined other elements. The fangs remained long. Their faces were wide, eyes alert and intelligent. The paws were enlarged to give them support on uneven terrain and their sheathed claws could extend some ten centimeters, sharpened at the ends into razor tips by abrasive compression of the sheath. Their coats were a flat and even tan which made them almost invisible against sand."^[23]
• Levenbrech – A military rank that is roughly in between a sergeant and a lieutenant.^[23]
• Lisan al Gaib – (Arabic: لسان الغيب - 'The tongue of the unseen') The Fremen term for an off-world prophet or messiah, applied to Paul Atreides in Dune. It is "The Voice from the Outer World" and is outlined in Fremen messianic legends heavily influenced by the Bene Gesserit's Missionaria Protectiva. It is also translated as the "Giver of Water". A phrase of Arabic origin meaning "Tongue of the Unseen", also title of Hafez.^[3]
• Litter – A kind of stretcher or cart that uses anti-gravity suspensors to hover above the ground. Used by Harkonnen troopers to transport Paul and Jessica to a waiting ornithopter in the original novel.
• Little Maker – The "half-plant-half-animal deep-sand vector of the Arrakissandworm", whose "excretions form the pre-spice mass."^[4] Also known as "sandtrout," they represent an early stage in the life cycle of the worm. They can link the cilia on the edges of their bodies to encapsulate pockets of free subsurface water, which is lethal to fully grown worms.
• Lost Tleilaxu – Offshoot race of the Bene Tleilax, formed in the Scattering.^[22]

• Mahdi – "In the Fremen messianic legend, 'The One Who Will Lead Us to Paradise;'"^[4] applied to Paul Atreides by the Fremen when they determine that he is their messiah. The term Mahdi is the same as that used in Islam for a messianic figure who will appear shortly before the Day of Judgment in Islamic eschatology.
• Maker hooks – "The hooks used for capturing, mounting, and steering a sandworm of Arrakis."^[4]
• Maula pistol – "Spring-loaded gun for firing poison darts; range about 40 metres."^[4]
• Melange – Known colloquially as "the spice", a highly-addictive drug essential to space travel, extended life, and therefore to the survival of the universe.^[5]
• Memocorder – Tiny handheld device described as "a dull black Ixian artifact whose existence crowded the proscriptions of the Butlerian Jihad".^[7]
• Mentats – Individuals trained as "human computers,"^[4] their minds developed to staggering heights of cognitive and analytical ability.
• Missionaria Protectiva – An arm of the Bene Gesserit charged with spreading contrived myths, prophecies and superstition on primitive worlds so that the Bene Gesserit may later exploit those regions.^[4]
• Muad'Dib – "The adapted kangaroo mouse of Arrakis, a creature associated in the Fremen earth-spirit mythology with a design visible on the planet's second moon. This creature is admired by Fremen for its ability to survive in the open desert."^[4] In Dune, Paul Atreides takes "Muad'Dib" as his Fremen name, which takes on greater significance when he is perceived as a messiah. The term originates from the word مؤدب (muʾaddib) meaning "teacher" in Arabic.^[3]
• Muadru – Ancient religion predating the Old Empire before the Time of the Titans.^[17]

• na-Baron – Noble title given to a Baron's heir-apparent.^[4]
• No-chamber – Construct that hides anything inside from prescient and oracular vision, as well as other methods of detection.^[8]
• No-ship – No-chamber in spaceship form, with enough limited prescience to be capable of interstellar travel without a Guild Navigator.^[8]
• Nullentropy – Technology akin to the science fiction concept of stasis, in which the natural processes of time, such as decomposition, are ceased. In this way, perishable matter such as food and even human cells may be stored for millennia and remain undamaged.^[21][8]

• Obliterators – Weapons of mass destruction stolen by Honored Matres from their "outside enemy". They combust the atmosphere of a planet, and subsequently its surface.^[22]
• Orange Catholic Bible, or OCB – The primary orthodox religious text in the universe, a syncretic fusion of all significant religious concepts in the historical record, created by an ecumenical council. Its supreme commandment is considered to be: "Thou shalt not disfigure the soul."^[4]
• Other Memory – The combined ego and memories of all female ancestors, which a Bene Gesserit may be trained to access.^[5]
• Ornithopter (or 'Thopter) – "Aircraft capable of sustained wing-beat flight in the manner of birds;"^[4] one of the primary modes of transportation on the desert planetArrakis.^[5]

• Palm lock – "Lock or seal which can be opened only by contact with the palm of the human hand to which it has been keyed."^[4]
• Phibian – Primitive and amphibious humanoid creatures, a genetic mix of human and fish, created out in the Scattering. First mentioned in Chapterhouse: Dune, they have been brought as captives to the "million planets" by the Honored Matres.^[21] In Hunters of Dune, Phibians are described as having bullet-shaped heads and lean and streamlined bodies, taller than humans and slick green skin that "shines with oily iridescence". Capable of breathing underwater as well as on land, they are used by the Honored Matres on Buzzell to harvest valuable soostones from the sea.^[22]
• Plasteel – Extremely tough form of steel, "stabilized with stravidium fibers grown into its crystal structure."^[4]
• Plaz (or windowplaz) – Synthetic glass, used for windows (especially in aircraft and spaceships) due to its superior strength.^[8]
• Poison snooper – "Radiation analyzer within the olfactory spectrum and keyed to detect poisonous substances."^[24] Said to resemble a dead spider that hangs limply over a table.
• Powindah – Tleilaxu term for all outsiders, whom they consider "unclean" sinners and heretics.^[8]
• Prana-bindu – Training providing a Bene Gesserit with complete muscle control (Prana nervature relates to nervous system control).^[5]
• Prescience – Form of precognition, based in genetics but made possible by use of the drug melange.^[5]
• Pre-spice mass – The "stage of fungusoid wild growth achieved when water is flooded into the excretions of Little Makers. At this stage, the spice of Arrakis forms a characteristic 'blow', exchanging the material from deep underground for the matter on the surface above it. This mass, after exposure to sun and air, becomes melange."^[4]
• Probe, Ixian – Device used to capture the thoughts of a person (living or dead) for analysis; can be blocked by the substance shere.^[8]
• Probe, T – Device used to capture the thoughts of a person (living or dead) for analysis; unlike an Ixian Probe, it cannot be blocked by the substance shere.^[8]
• Pundi rice – "A mutated rice whose grains, high in natural sugar, achieve lengths up to four centimeters; chief export of Caladan."^[4]

• Qanat – "Open canal for carrying irrigation water under controlled conditions through a desert."^[4]

• Rachag – A "caffeine-type stimulant from the yellow berries of Akarso."^[4]
• Residual poison – "Innovation attributed to the Mentat Piter De Vries whereby the body is impregnated with a substance for which repeated antidotes must be administered; withdrawal of the antidote at any time brings death."^[4]
• Reverend Mother – Bene Gesserit who has survived a ritual wherein she consciously transforms a toxic dose of melange into a non-poisonous substance at the molecular level, thereby raising herself to a higher level of awareness and enabling her to access Other Memory.^[4]
• Rossak drug – A precursor to the Water of Life, used by the Sisterhood of Rossak to unlock Other Memory.^[25]

• Salusan bull – Fierce and very aggressive creature with compound eyes and multiple horns, used in bullfighting on Caladan and originating from Salusa Secundus.^[6]
• Salusa Secundus – Original homeworld of House Corrino. Later devastated by atomics, it eventually became the Emperor’s prison planet and a training ground for his elite Sardaukar military forces.
• Sandworm – Giant sand-dwelling creatures native to Arrakis. Called Shai-Hulud (and sometimes Little Maker) by the Fremen and worshipped as deities.^[5]
• Sapho – "High-energy liquid extracted from barrier roots of Ecaz. Commonly used by Mentats who claim it amplifies mental powers. Users develop deep ruby stains on mouth and lips."^[4]
• Sardaukar – Ferocious "soldier-fanatics" of the Padishah Emperor, later disbanded by Leto II.^[4]
• Sareer – Last desert of Arrakis in the time of Leto II Atreides, location of his Citadel; guarded by D-wolves.^[7]
• Sayyadina – Among the Fremen, the Sayyadina ("Friend of God" in Chakobsa) is a priestess who has not yet passed within to become a Reverend Mother. When a Sayyadina undergoes the spice agony, another is then consecrated into the Sayyadina to continue the line of succession.^[5]
• Scattering, The – Event after the reign of Leto II in which trillions of people left the settled worlds of the Old Empire, striking off into unknown space.^[8]
• Semuta – "Second narcotic derivative (by crystal extraction) from the burned residue of elacca wood [from Ecaz]. The effect (described as timeless, sustained ecstasy) is elicited by certain atonal vibrations referred to as semuta music."^[4]
• Servo-receiver – A communications device worn in the ear. In Dune, Shaddam wears one during the Battle of Arrakeen to receive updates on the battle.
• Shai-Hulud – Fremen name for the sandworms of Arrakis.^[5] Originating from the Arabic words meaning "thing of eternity" (شيء خلودšayʾ khulūd).^[3]
• Shere – A substance which, when present in the body at high enough concentrations, will block the use of an Ixian Probe (but not a T-Probe) from recovering memories.^[8]
• Shigawire – "Metallic extrusion of a ground vine (Narvi narviium) grown only on Salusa Secundus and III Delta Kaising. It is noted for extreme tensile strength"^[4] and is used as a recording medium as well as a garrote weapon.
• Sietch – Cave warren inhabited by a Fremen tribal community; in the Fremen language, "Place of assembly in time of danger."^[4] The name was borrowed from the sich of Zaporozhian Cossacks.^[13]
• Sietch orgy (or sietch tau orgy) – "The culmination of the Fremen Water of Life ritual. Once a Reverend Mother has converted the water from its poisonous state, the Fremen then drink of the changed water, which has narcotic properties." Fremen partaking in the ritual "receive release from some of their pent-up emotions" and wild dancing or even sexual activity may occur.^[5]
• Siridar – A planetary governor.^[26]
• Slig – A livestock animal which is the hybrid of a large slug and a pig, created by the Tleilaxu and considered a culinary delicacy.^[8] The Tleilaxu themselves do not consume the animals, having designed them to facilitate what they see as the degrading decadence and spiritual bankruptcy of all cultures but their own.
• Solari – The official currency and principal monetary unit used throughout the Corrino Empire and, presumably, the Known Universe. Often used in parallel with spice as a form of payment. Implied to still be in use at the time of the accession of Leto II, as well as in the years following his death.
• Solido – "Three-dimensional image from a solido projector using 360-degree reference signals imprinted on a shigawire reel."^[4]
• Soostone – Valuable iridescent gem produced on Buzzell by the abraded carapaces of monoped sea creatures called Cholisters, much in the manner of pearls.^[8]
• Spacing Guild – Powerful organization with a monopoly on space travel and transport due to their Navigators.^[5]
• Spice – Common name for melange, a highly-addictive drug essential to space travel, extended life, and therefore to the survival of the universe.^[5]
• Spice agony – Fremen version of the ritual used by the Bene Gesserit to create Reverend Mothers, using the Water of Life instead of melange.^[5]
• Starship Lighter or Space Lighter – A class of spacecraft that functions similarly to a ferry or barge, and serves to shuttle people and cargo between a larger ship such as a Guild Heighliner and a planet’s surface.
• Steersman – Title given to Guild Navigators.^[5]
• Stillsuit – "Body-enclosing garment" of Fremen design which performs the "functions of heat dissipation and filtering bodily wastes," as well as retaining and reclaiming moisture.^[4]
• Stilltent – "Small, scalable enclosure of micro-sandwich fabric designed to reclaim as potable water the ambient moisture discharged within it by the breath of its occupants."^[4]
• Stone burner – Atomic weapon, the explosion and radiation of which can be precisely adjusted depending on the desired effect. A stone burner with sufficient fuel can burn through the crust of a planet to the mantle or core, potentially causing a release of energy destroying the surface of the planet on which the weapon is deployed. Stone burners emit "J-Rays," a form of radiation that has a side effect of destroying the eyes of anyone surviving the initial radiation blast.^[9]
• S'tori – Tleilaxu concept, derived from Japanese satori (悟り), spiritual awakening. "To achieve s'tori, no understanding is needed. S'tori exists without words, without even a name."^[27]
• Suboid – Bioengineered Ixian workers.^[6]
• Suk School – Prominent medical school whose doctors are the universe's most competent and trusted; those who have received the "Suk Imperial Conditioning" bear a diamond tattoo on their foreheads, wear their hair in a special silver ring, and are incapable of inflicting harm. However, the fallibility of Suk training is proven in Dune (1965) when Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and his twisted Mentat Piter De Vries manage to subvert this conditioning and coerce Suk Dr. Wellington Yueh into helping him in his attempt to destroy House Atreides.^[5]
• Suspensor – Any of a number of 'hovering' devices which utilize the "secondary (low-drain) phase of a Holtzman field generator" to nullify gravity "within certain limits prescribed by relative mass and energy consumption."^[4] In Dune, the obese Baron Harkonnen uses suspensors to support his massive weight.^[5] Hunter-seekers also use suspensor fields for propulsion, which make them slippery and hard to grasp.^[5]

• T-Probe – Device used to capture the thoughts of a person (living or dead) for analysis. Shere only prevents the T-Probe from recovering memories directly (as it does for the Ixian Probe) and does not impede any of the other features. The model created by the operation of this probe can be interrogated to give an idea of how the person would have reacted to a set of stimuli, possibly giving insight into a shere-loaded prisoner.^[8]
• Tachyon net (or tachyon web) – Technology (involving faster-than-lighttachyon particles) used by Daniel and Marty in their attempt to track and capture the no-shipIthaca.^[22]
• Thinking machines – Intelligent and sentient machines "created in the likeness of a human mind" and thus abolished in the Butlerian Jihad.^[5]
• Thalim – Star of the single planet system of the Tleilaxu.
• Thopter (Ornithopter) – "Aircraft capable of sustained wing-beat flight in the manner of birds."^[4]
• Thorse – A six-legged pack animal bred for its stability.^[7]
• Thumper – "Short stake with a spring-driven clapper at one end", placed in the sand to 'call' sandworms, who are attracted to vibration and sound.^[4]
• Titans – Ancient dictators whose brains were transplanted into fearsome, weaponized machine bodies to achieve immortality.^[17]
• Tleilaxu (or Bene Tleilax) – Secretive and powerful patriarchal race known for their genetic manipulation technologies.^[9]
• Truthsayer – Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother "qualified to enter truthtrance and detect insincerity or falsehood".^[4]

• Umma – "One of the brotherhood of prophets; a term of scorn in the Imperium, meaning any 'wild' person given to fanatical prediction."^[4]
• Usul – Fremen word, meaning "The strength at the base of the pillar."^[4] This is the secret "sietch name" (known only to his tribe) given to Paul Atreides upon his joining the Fremen.

• Verite – Will-destroying narcotic from Ecaz that "renders a person incapable of falsehood."^[4] Originating from the French word for "truth"^[3]
• The Voice – Training that allows the Bene Gesserit "to control others merely by selected tone shadings of the voice."^[4]

• Wali – The name the Fremen give to an untried youth.^[4]
• War of Assassins – Regulated form of warfare between noble houses, intended to "reduce involvement of innocent bystanders." The rules require "formal declarations of intent and restrict permissible weapons."^[4]
• Water of Life – Toxic liquid exhalation of a drowning sandworm, used by Fremen Reverend Mothers in the spice agony.^[4]
• Water rings – Metal rings wore by Fremen women to indicate the amount of water possessed by their households.^[5]
• Weirding way – Fremen term for Bene Gesserit abilities, in particular the specialized martial art component of prana-bindu.^[5]
• Whale fur – Valuable commodity noted to be the original source of House Harkonnen's wealth.^[26]Princess Irulan is described wearing whale fur multiple times, including during her meeting with her fellow conspirators in Dune Messiah.^[6] The Prelude to Dune prequel series establishes it to be the fur of the Bjondax whales of Lankiveil, a planet controlled by the Harkonnens.^[6]
• Windowplaz (or simply plaz) – Synthetic glass, used for windows (especially in aircraft and spaceships) due to its superior strength.^[6]
• Windtrap – Type of air well "placed in the path of a prevailing wind and capable of precipitating moisture from the air caught within it, usually by a sharp and distinct drop in temperature within the trap."^[4]

• Yali – "A Fremen's personal quarters within the sietch."^[4]

• Zensunni – Ancient religious sect, ancestors of the Fremen.^[5]

• List of technology in the Dune universe