Star Wars Terminology: Technology

Star Wars takes place a long time ago, in a Galaxy far, far away. We get to see spaceships, flying cars, blasters, and space wizards with lazer-swords, but also a mixture of the wild wild west, World War II, and some clothing styles clearly inspired by our Earth's history. This article will look to highlight some examples of the terminology used for the technology and materials that are found in Star Wars and how they relate to things present in real life.

Common Terminology
Power Packs	Batteries
Macrobinoculars	Binoculars
Sonic Blender	Blender
Holocamera, Imager	Camera
Groundcar, grav-car, hover-car	Car
Comlink	Cellphone
Vibrosaw	Chainsaw
Chronometer, Chrono	Clock
Rangefinder	Crosshairs/Rifle scope
Datatapes	Data disks
Turbolift, Lift tube	Elevator
Slideramp	Escalator
Holodramas, Holovids	Movies, Films, Television shows
Glowlamp, Glowrod	Flashlight, Torch
Illumination bank	Floodlight
Load lifter	Fork lift
Grav lifter	Hovering Fork lift
Chopter	Helicopter
Holonet	Internet
Hydrojack	Jack/port
Turbohammer	Jackhammer
Repeater/Repeating Rifle	Heavy Machine Gun
Sparkstick, Igniter stick	Matchstick
Loudhailer, Voice amplifier	Megaphone
Nanowave	Microwave
Turbocart	Mine cart
Speeder, Swoop bike	Motorcycle
Holojournal	Newspaper
Power coupling	Power line
Vibroscalpel	Scalpel
Acceleration strap	Seatbelt
Hydroshovel, Vibroshovel	Shovel
Sonic shower, Sanisteam	Shower/Sauna
Credit game	Slot machine
Lightpole	Street light
Air taxi	Taxi
Viewscreen, Vidscreen, Holovision	Television display
Therma-slice	Toaster
Grav-mill	Treadmill
Hydrospanner	Wrench/Tool
Holoscanner	X-ray machine
Change cubes	Dice
Spacers tape, mesh tape, engine tape	Duct tape
Hydropack	Canteen
Absorbmat	Coaster
Medkit, Medpac	First Aid Kit
Holo faker	Identity forger
Medcenter	Hospital
Viewport	Window
Spacescraper	Skyscraper
Holojournalist	Reporter
Minder	Therapist
Periodical chrono	Magazine
Synthleather	Vynil
Slicer, Slicing	Hacking tool/Hacker, Hacking
Bacta	Healing gel/liquid
Thermajug	Thermos
Refresher	Bathrooms, toilets, showers

Materials

Here are some examples of common materials found in Star Wars.

Durasteel	Steel/Metal
Transparisteel	Glass/Heavy glass
Durasheet, Flimsiplast	Paper
Permacrete, Duracrete	Concrete
Armorweave	Kevlar
Synthweave	Synthetic material
Synthfur	Synthetic fur
Plasto-cast, Plexi-cast	Casting/Paster

Prefixes

You’ll notice that a lot of material in particular share a similar root to their real-life counterpart, but just have a different prefix. The most common ones you’ll find are:

• Dura - hardened material
• Holo - relating to holographs or communication
• Synth - used for anything synthetic
• Transpari - used for anything
• Vibro - tool/weapon that utilizes a vibration cell to amplify sharpness

Additional Reference

• Wookipedia list of Star Wars equivalents to real-world objects