[ 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 |
|---|---|
| Feirros | Latin ferrum, "iron". [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine IronHands] |
| Ferrus Manus | Latin ferrum, "iron" + manus, "hand". Correct Latin for "iron hand" would be manus ferrea, and for "iron hands" would be manus ferreae. [WH40k Imperial Primarch IronHands] |
| Gorgon | Gorgon, a snake-haired monster in Greek mythology. [WH40k Imperial ImperialGuard Vehicle SpaceMarine IronHands Tyranid HiveFleet] |
| Manus | See: Ferrus Manus. [WH40k Imperial Primarch IronHands] |
| Morlock | Morlock, a monstrous species from the 1895 H. G. Wells novel The Time Machine. [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine IronHands] |
| 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 the Lord of Plagues