[ Models | Lore | Sources | Inspiration ]
With a rich background stretching back decades in time, the various Warhammer games contain a vast array of names (of people, places, items, and so on). Many of these names are original, but some happen to have a meaning in the real world, as obscure terms, foreign words, or cultural references. This page lists some of these underlying etymologies for your edification. Note that some of these are best guesses (speculative fan theory) rather than confirmed derivations.
Where a name is followed by the symbol ¹, if you hover over or click on that symbol you will see when that name was first mentioned in a publication.
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Acula ¹ | Noting that an Explorator Enginseer in today's terms would have a PhD, Dr. Acula is a reference to Dracula (1897), a novel by Bram Stoker. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Adeptus Mechanicus ¹ | Latin adeptus, "having obtained" + mechanicus, "engineer". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Archaeopter Fusilave | Ancient Greek ἀρχαῖον, "ancient" + πτερόν, "wing" + "fusillade" (simultaneous gunfire) / "fuselage" (aircraft body). [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Archaeopter Stratoraptor | Ancient Greek ἀρχαῖον, "ancient" + πτερόν, "wing" + "strato-" as in stratosphere (but note also στρατός, "army") + Latin raptor, "thief" (used in English to refer to a bird of prey). [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Archaeopter Transvector | Ancient Greek ἀρχαῖον, "ancient" + πτερόν, "wing" + Latin trans, "across" + vector, "carrier". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Arkhan Land | Blend of Arkham (a fictional city created by H. P. Lovecraft) and "arcane" (mysterious) + "Land", back-named from vehicles Land Raider and Land Speeder. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Ballistarius | See: Ironstrider Ballistarius. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Belisarius Cawl | Belisarius (c. 500-565), a military commander of the Byzantine Empire + "cawl", a variant spelling of "caul", the membrane over a baby's head (a reference to Nikolai Tolstoy's 1988 novel The Coming of the King, in which Merlin has a caul birth and is able to speak as soon as he is born). [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Binharic | "Binaric", split into binary components, in a reference to binary code used by computers. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Blank ¹ | See: Johan Blank. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Book of Five Runes ¹ | The Book of Five Rings (1645), a book by Miyamoto Musashi. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Cawl | See: Belisarius Cawl. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Corpuscarii Electro-Priest | Latin corpus, "body" + cari, "of the beloved" + "electro-", relating to electricity + "priest", religious leader. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Dominus | Latin dominus, "master". See also: Tech-Priest Dominus. [WH40k Imperial Knight AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Dragoon | See: Sydonian Dragoon. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Dunecrawler | See: Onager Dunecrawler. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Electro-Priest | See: Corpuscarii Electro-Priest, Fulgurite Electro-Priest. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Enginseer | See: Tech-Priest Enginseer. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Fulgurite Electro-Priest | Fulgurite, fused rock formed by a lightning strike + "electro-", relating to electricity + "priest", religious leader. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Fusilave | See: Archaeopter Fusilave. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Heterodyne Station ¹ | The Heterodyne family of mad scientists from the Girl Genius comic (first published in 2000) by Phil and Kaja Foglio. [WH40k SegmentumObscurus CalixisSector UzielSystem City AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Ironstrider Ballistarius | "Iron", a metallic element + "strider", one who walks with long steps + Latin ballistarius, "ballista operator". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Johan Blank ¹ | John Blanche (1948-), Games Workshop art director. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Kastelan | Castellan, the governor of a castle. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Robot] |
| Kataphron | Ancient Greek καταφρονέω, "I am disdainful of". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Land | See: Arkhan Land. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Manipulus | See: Tech-Priest Manipulus. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Mechanicum | Latin mechanicum, "mechanical". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Morys cypher ¹ | Morse code, developed and refined by several individuals in the 1800s. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Omnissiah | Blend of Latin omnis ("of all") and "messiah" (religious saviour). [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Onager Dunecrawler | Onager, a Roman siege weapon + "dune", hill of sand + "crawler", one who creeps along the ground. See also: Sand Crawler. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Ordo Reductor | Latin ordo, "ranked group" + reductor, "one who leads back". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Pteraxii | Ancient Greek πτερόν, "wing". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Serberys | Cerberus, a region of Mars (named after Cerberus, a monstrous three-headed dog in Greek mythology). [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Servitor | Latin servitor, "servant". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Sicarian | Latin sicarius, "assassin". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Skitarii | Latin scitari, "to seek knowledge". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Skorpius | Ancient Greek σκορπίος, "scorpion", or the scorpio siege weapon. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Stratoraptor | See: Archaeopter Stratoraptor. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Sydonian Dragoon | Cydonia, a region of Mars + dragoon, mounted infantry. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Taghmata | Ancient Greek τάγματα, divisions of soldiers, especially from the Byzantine Empire. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Tech-Priest Dominus | "Tech" (technology) + "priest", religious leader + Latin dominus, "master". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Tech-Priest Enginseer | "Tech" (technology) + "priest", religious leader + blend of "engineer" (one who maintains machines) and "seer" (one who divines the future). [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Tech-Priest Manipulus | "Tech" (technology) + "priest", religious leader + Latin manipulus, "handful". [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus] |
| Titan | Titans, the old gods in Greek mythology. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Transvector | See: Archaeopter Transvector. [WH40k Imperial AdeptusMechanicus Vehicle] |
| Inspiration | |
| Warhammer Setting | The Dark Tongue; Daemonic Names; Lexicon; Short Stories; Cut-ups; Cool Stuff |
| Art | Golden Demon; Nurglesque Music |
| Speculation | Chaos God Correspondence; Dark Heresy Backgrounds; Sevenfold Path; Sevenrot; Seven Deadly Sins |
| Real World References | Nergal in Mesopotamian History; Symbolism of Three Circles; Symbolism of Seven |
dedicated to Father Nurgle