Ata: suffix indicating a group formed for instructional purposes.
Az: Jao measurement, slightly longer than a yard.
Azet: Jao measurement, about three fourths of a mile.
Bau: A short carved baton, usually but not always made of wood, issued by a kochan to those of its members it considers fit for high command. The bau serves as an emblem of military achievement, with carvings added to match the bau-holder accomplishments.
Bauta: An individual who has retired from service honorably and has chosen to relinquish his automatic kochan ties.
Bodyspeech: Postures, used to communicate emotions.
Dehabia: Traditional soft thick blankets used for lounging.
Early-light: The period between dawn and early morning
Formal movement: Codified postures, taught to young Jao.
Fraghta: An older and experienced batman/valet/advisor/bodyguard assigned to young Jao of high kochan status.
Framepoint: A stargate, the means for interstellar transit.
Hai tau: Life-in-motion.
Heartward: Right.
Jinau: Sepoy troops recruited from conquered species.
Kochan: Jao clan. The term is used also to refer to "root clans" or "great kochan."
Kochanata: Instructional group taught in the kochan.
Kochanau: The leader of the clan, at any given time, chosen by the elders. The office is neither hereditary nor permanent, although some kochanau retain it for long periods of time.
Kroudh: Outlawed, officially severed from one's clan.
Last-sun: Yesterday.
Late-dark: Midnight or after.
Late-light: Afternoon.
Lurret: A large herbivore found on Hadiru, a Dano world. Specifically, an old rogue male, notorious for its belligerence and unstable temperament.
Mirrat: Small finned swimmers on Jithra's homeworld.
Natal compound: Where one was born.
Namth camiti: To be of highest ranking in an emergent generation, sometimes referred as "of the clearest water." Loosely equivalent, in human terms, to graduating first in the class from a military academy.
Next-sun: Tomorrow.
Ollnat: Conceiving of things-that-never-were, or what-might-be, lies, imagination, creativity, etc. It is a quality mostly lacking in Jao, except in a frivolous manner.
Oudh: In charge, having official authority in a situation.
Sant jin: A formal question requiring a formal answer.
Smoothface: An insult, implying no incised bars of rank or experience. Roughly equivalent to such humans expressions as "wet behind the ears" or "greenhorn."
Tak: Woody substance burned for its aromatic scent.
Taif: A kochan-in-formation, affiliated to and under the protection and guidance of a kochan.
Timeblind: Having no innate sense of time as the Jao do.
Timesense: Innate ability to judge the passage of time and sense when something will happen.
Vai camiti: The characteristic facial pattern by which one may often recognize a Jao's kochan; faint vai camiti are considered undesirable, a mark of homeliness.
Vaim: Traditional Jao greeting between two who are approximately equal in status. Can also be used as a compliment by a higher status Jao to a lower. The literal translation is "We see each other."
Vaish: Traditional Jao greeting of inferior to superior. The literal translation is "I see you."
Vaist: Traditional Jao greeting of superior to inferior. The literal translation is "You see me."
Vithrik: Duty, what one owes to others, the necessity of making one's self of use.
What-is: Reality.
What-might-be: Something imagined.
Windward: Left.
Wrem-fa: A technique of instruction through body-learning in which nothing is explained, laid down in the brain too deep for conscious understanding. Also, in a broader sense, used to refer to life experience.