Glossary of Dune Terminology - A

A

• Aba – A loose, usually black robe worn by Fremen women and Bene Gesserit sisters.
• Abomination – Bene Gesserit term for one who is pre-born and thus susceptible to being taken over by the ancestral personalities in Other Memory.
• Ajidamal (or Amal) – Disastrously-flawed synthetic melange created by the Tleilaxu Project Amal before the process of producing spice in axlotl tanks is perfected.
• Akarso – "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."
• Al-Lat – "Mankind's original sun; by usage: any planet's primary."
• Ampoliros – "Legendary 'Flying Dutchman' of space;" Lady Jessica refers to the pre-Guild legend in Dune: "Like the men of the lost star-searcher, Ampoliros – sick at their guns – forever seeking, forever prepared and forever unready."
• Amtal (or Amtal Rule) – "Common rule on primitive worlds under which something is tested to determine its limits or defects. Commonly: testing to destruction." "To know a thing well, know its limits. Only when pushed beyond its tolerances will true nature be seen. – The Amtal Rule."
• Arafel – The "cloud-darkness of holy judgment" or "cloud darkness at the end of the universe;" the end of mankind (as it was) averted by Leto Atreides II's Golden Path.
• Axlotl tank – Biological tank in which gholas and melange may be produced.
• Assassin's 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."
• Ayat – "The signs of life. (See Burhan.)"