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In the Dune novels, the word "literjon" is used to describe a single liter of water. (As far as I can tell.)

Many words in Dune have their origin in old languages, or are a mix of languages, however just adding "jon" to an existing common word in English looks… well, too "simple".

Can anyone tell me the origin of this word, or the reasoning behind it?

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    He gave lots of words from various languages through the books, why not a bit of a French reference (damejeanne apparently)? How do you mean origin? It seems to me unlikely that there's explanation for the portmanteau of liter and (demi)-jon as the meaning/connotation would seem obvious to the sort of person who's likely to read the book. Commented Feb 16 at 8:22
  • @JiminyCricket. yes it was kind of obvious, just wonder why not keeping the original English word. By "origin" I mean origin in the Dune universe, can't think of better way to describe it. Commented Feb 16 at 8:44

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Demijohn originally referred to any glass vessel with a large body and small neck, enclosed in wickerwork. The word presumably comes from the French dame-jeanne, literally "Lady Jane"

— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demijohn

This naturally leads to a litrejohn being a demijohn that holds one litre of liquid. The spelling then drifted (in-Universe) to literjon.

literjon: a one-liter container for transporting water on Arrakis; made of high-density, shatterproof plastic with positive seal.

— Frank Herbert, Dune (appendix)

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    "The spelling then drifted (in-Universe)" - I've heard that some versions of English even in our real universe use the spelling "liter" instead of litre. Commented Feb 16 at 17:06
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    They correlate quite strongly with not using litres. Commented Feb 17 at 11:31
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A literjon is specifically a container for a litre of water, rather than the measurement itself. From the "Terminology of the Imperium":

LITERJON: a one-liter container for transporting water on Arrakis; made of high-density, shatterproof plastic with positive seal.

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    This doesn't meaningfully explain the origin of the term. Commented Feb 16 at 15:59
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    But it does explain why Herbert didn't just use "liter", which was part of the original question. Commented Feb 16 at 16:05
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    @DavidW true, but still correct and useful. :) Commented Feb 16 at 19:18
  • so it's a litre-jawn Commented Feb 18 at 21:39
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In England a Demijohn is a one gallon glass bottle. It can be clear or brown glass. Typically it has finger-hole each side of the mouth that can be used to carry it. These days their main use is as fermentation vessels for making home-brew wine or beer. Any home-brew equipment supplier will sell them.

There are a lot of old measurement units that only survive in the brewing industry. One of them is the Hogshead which is 54 gallons. One recipe I want to try someday starts out something like "take a hogshead of honey and one of plain water. Boil them together."

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  • Hi, welcome to SF&F. This doesn't really add anything to the existing answers. Commented Feb 19 at 22:10
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    This is mentioned in the wikipedia page linked from the accepted answer: In Britain, "demijohn" refers to a 1-imperial-gallon (4.5 L) glass brewing vessel. and all the rest is non relevant details. (i.e. this answer adds nothing new.) Commented Feb 20 at 10:33