Terok Nor? Empok Nor?

[Who_Trek]

Anyone know what Terok Nor and Empok Nor translate into? I tried to find the meaning of the the words on the various wikis and couldn't.

I wish they had done more with Empok Nor ... Be a great place to play hide-and-seek!

 

[Dancing Doctor]

It's just the names of Cardassian space stations.

I'm guessing that "Nor" would be "starbase" or whatever, and the "__ok" is some sort of designation.

I don't think it was ever said what the names meant.

 

[Timo]

It could just as well be that the stations are named after something that comes with a "Nor" already. Correspondingly, Starfleet could have two ships named Mount Vernon and Mount McKinley, and the aliens of the week might mistakenly think that "Mount" means "ship"...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[J47]

Maybe they're numbers? You know, it's not impossible that Starfleet stole and translated their designation to get "Deep Space Nine"...

 

[Michael]

Wasn't there also the Bok'Nor (from "The Maquis")? Wouldn't that imply that nor doesn't stand for "station"?

I don't know why, but I always imagined, that nor would mean "nine". As that would fit.

 

[UnknownSample]

I hate Ferengi.

 

[Bill Morris]

Also, Cuellar Nor. Here's a small glossary of Cardassian words (including empok: third, terok: ninth, nor: station):

Cardassian vocabulary

 

[Michael]

But what about the Bok'Nor then? Is it a station? Obviously it doesn't really mean anything. I can't imagine Michael Piller, Rick Berman or someone else thinking up a name that really translates into something. After they created the term Terok Nor they just named every ohter cardassian vessel in a similar manner. Just to make it easily understandable for the audience that said vessel is a cardassian one. It's the same with the character names.

 

[Navaros]

I don't think the Cardies would be so bland and uncreative as to make Nor mean "station".

In my view "Nor" means something that reflects how badass the design of Cardassian technology & aesthetics is.

 

[nx1701g]

The Bok'Nor was a freighter. Perhaps Nor means Mining or Ore?

Terok Nor was a mining station
Empok Nor was a mining station (theoretically because of the design)
Bok'Nor was carrying a type of Ore.

 

[erastus25]

nx1701g said:
The Bok'Nor was a freighter. Perhaps Nor means Mining or Ore?

Terok Nor was a mining station
Empok Nor was a mining station (theoretically because of the design)
Bok'Nor was carrying a type of Ore.

Or maybe more "nor" is just a more generalized word/suffix meaning "somethign people inhabit in space."

 

[nx1701g]

^ Doesn't work because then it would be on all their ships (I had thought maybe NOR was their equivalent of NCC).

Here is Memory Alpha's Cardassian Ship listing

Aldara Galor-class 2369 Active
Bok'Nor Freighter 2370 Destroyed
Groumall Freighter 2372 Destroyed
Koranak Keldon-class 2371 Destroyed
Kornaire unknown unknown Active
Kraxon Galor-class 2371 Active
Prakesh Galor-class 2372 Destroyed
Rabol Transport 2372 Active
Ravinok Transport 2366 Destroyed
Reklar Galor-class 2369 Active
Trager Galor-class 2367 Active
Vetar Galor-class 2370-2371 unknown

 

[Michael]

Nor meaning ore sounds plausible, I think.

 

[cultcross]

It's possible that 'Nor' as a separate word would mean something different to 'nor' as a syllable in a word as in 'Bok'Nor'. For example the letters k-e-y mean something quite different when used as a word in their own right or in 'monkey'.

 

[Sam_I_Am]

nx1701g said:
^ Doesn't work because then it would be on all their ships (I had thought maybe NOR was their equivalent of NCC).

Not necessarily. English has many suffixes to signify things like towns, such as "-ville", "port" etc. Just because "York" isn't suffixed doesn't mean it isn't a town.

 

[Who_Trek]

I read somewhere that there would be a two-book Terok Nor series coming out next year ... maybe we'll find out then (not that it would cannon). Nor meaning ore would be ... (Spock voice) logical.

Cmdr: That's a rather ... chilling quote on the bottom of your post. I hadn't read that one before.

 

[nx1701g]

^ OT: nor had I. What speech is that from?

 

[J47]

Who_Trek said:
I read somewhere that there would be a two-book Terok Nor series coming out next year ... maybe we'll find out then (not that it would cannon). Nor meaning ore would be ... (Spock voice) logical.

They're due in April/May 2008 at last word.

 

[Sam_I_Am]

nx1701g said:
^ OT: nor had I. What speech is that from?

It's from when Bush was campaigning for President in '87, at a press conference outside O'Hare Airport. A full exchange is here

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

LCARS 24 said:
Also, Cuellar Nor. Here's a small glossary of Cardassian words (including empok: third, terok: ninth, nor: station):

Cardassian vocabulary

That site has one minor error, though. It lists Odo's name "odo'ital" as the Cardassian word for 'unknown'. But it doesn't mean 'unknown,' it means (literally) 'nothing'.

(it was said in one of the DS9 eps. Odo said that the Bajorans who found him put him in a sample container and labelled it 'unknown'. This got translated into Cardassian as odo'ital - 'nothing'.)