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Their home planet, Ferenginar , is a non-Federation world governed by the Grand Nagus and a Commerce Authority made primarily of the Council of Economic Advisors (formerly Board of Liquidators). Like most of their culture, their religion is also based on principles of capitalism: they offer prayers and monetary offerings to a Blessed Exchequer in hopes of entering the Divine Treasury upon death, and fear an afterlife spent in the Vault of Eternal Destitution. ON ''STAR TREK'' The name "Ferengi" is an Arabic name for European traders, or for Westerners in general. It is also pronounced "Feringhee" and similarly. The name is likely derived from the Arabic word ''Faranj'' or ''Ifranj'' = " Franks " or possibly the Persian word "farangi", meaning "foreigner" or (most likely) the Hindi / Urdu word ferengi, which is a dialectic varietion on the Persian word. In Ethiopia , ''ferenj'' or ''ferenji'' has the same meaning. The Greeks used ''Farang'' or ''farangi'' to refer to western Europeans, especially from Catalan . The Star Trek usage was taken from the above usage. The Ferengi were originally meant to replace the ones. In "'' episode " Dear Doctor ", when, in 2151 , a Valakian astronaut that encounters the crew of the ''Enterprise'' (NX-01) mentions the Ferengi in passing, but the ''Enterprise'' crew do not recognize the name. The Crew would encounter the Ferengi themselves later that season in " Acquisition ", but would never learn the name of their race, and thus not make the connection with the race mentioned by the Valalkian astronaut. '''' was the series that focused the most on the Ferengi, as it was the first to feature a Ferengi, Quark (played by Armin Shimerman ), as a regular cast member, as well as Ferengi as recurring cast members, most notably Quark's brother Rom ( Max Grodenchik ) and Rom's son Nog ( Aron Eisenberg ). ''Deep Space Nine'', therefore, featured many episodes that centered around the Ferengi and explored their culture in depth. It was on ''Deep Space Nine'' that Ferenginar was first seen. PHYSIOLOGY Ferengi are somewhat smaller than Humans , usually reaching approximately five feet in height. They have unusually large Ear s (more so in males than in females), lobed foreheads, large, ribbed noses, ascending Rib s, upper and lower Lungs , and a four-lobed Brain that cannot be read by the Telepathic powers of Betazoid s or Vulcan s. The ears, at least in males, are Erogenous Zones ; the Ferengi colloquially use the word "lobes" much as the word "balls" is used in modern English (as in, "I didn't think you had the lobes for that"). The Ferengi sharpen their Teeth into jagged spikes, using a hand-held "toothsharpener" for this task. CULTURE The Ferengi originate from the Planet Ferenginar , in the center of the Ferengi Alliance located in the Alpha Quadrant . Precisely what the Ferengi Alliance consisted of was never revealed; it may simply encompass Ferenginar and any uninhabited planets that the Ferengi have colonized, since there was little indication that the Ferengi government exercised authority over any species other than its own. Ferengi culture is based entirely on commerce, and the 285 , Justification , Appropriation , Obsession , and Resale . They value similar traits in other species as well — Earth's Wall Street is regarded with near-religious reverence by Ferengi, who routinely visit Earth to make pilgrimages to the "holy site" of commerce and business. The quest for profit even reaches into Ferengi religion. It is common for Ferengi to pray for financial success. The Ferengi believe in an afterlife which is based on the profit earned in life. There are two possible eternal fates: for the successful, the Divine Treasury or Golden Treasury lies ahead (provided one can bribe one's way in); the financial failures spend eternity in the Vault of Eternal Destitution, or Debtor's Dungeon. Until the episodes "Ferengi Love Songs" (in which it was revealed that Ishka , the mother of Quark and Rom, had become romantically involved with Grand Nagus Zek ), and "Profit and Lace", the laws and society of the Ferengi were extremely harsh towards its women. Female Ferengi were forbidden to make profit, wear clothes, talk to strangers, or travel without the permission of the eldest male of the family. Ferengi women traditionally softened food for members of their family by chewing it, and selling one's mother for gold-pressed Latinum , the principal form of legal tender, is an act that would be looked on with admiration in Ferengi society. By the time of ''Deep Space Nine'''s penultimate series episode, " The Dogs Of War ", it was indicated that Ferengi Capitalism was coming under greater regulation, with historic changes being made with respect to things such as female rights, Universal Health Care , worker's rights, etc. Zek's appointment of Rom to be his successor as Grand Nagus suggests that this trend will likely continue, given that Rom was long-depicted as more liberal, compassionate, and sensitive than more traditional Ferengi such as Quark. Ferengi males are neither buried nor cremated when they die. Rather, the dying male puts his body up for auction to the highest bidder and the dead body is carved up into little pieces that are vacuum-desiccated, preserved and packaged for sale as mementos of a worthy life. A subset of the Ferengi culture is known as the Eliminators, who routinely hire themselves out as assassins to anyone willing to pay for their services. Most Ferengi, however, view Eliminators as eccentric at best (since Eliminators appear to enjoy the sport of killing more than the profits gained thereby), dangerous psychopaths at worst, and avoid them whenever possible. Ferengi Cuisine consists of Insects and other small Invertebrates , such as "tube grubs," either served live, jellied or juiced. Regarding the comment made by Picard in "Encounter at Farpoint" about Ferengi finding their past associates "tasty", there is no reference to whether or not these associates were insectoids. (Picard was most likely stating one of the many rumors that had risen about the Ferengi, as referenced in "The Last Outpost".) When welcoming guests into his home, a Ferengi will speak a traditional greeting. He will say "Welcome to our home. Please place your thumbprint on the legal waivers and deposit your admission fee in the slot by the door. Remember, my house is my house." The guest replies "As are its contents." When a Ferengi bows, he holds his hands in a bowl shape. Ferengi personalities vary from cultured (i.e. "). A certain branch of the Ferengi government, known as Liquidators, are almost universally loathed by all Ferengi, and are possibly meant as a parody of the IRS . Liquidator Brunt was a recurring character on Deep Space Nine, who often found himself at odds with Quark. A line of toys known as Marauder Mo, which is an action figure based line, existed when Quark was a child, and he collected the figures. Little else is known about these items, but they do appreciate in value over time, particularly if they are kept in the original packaging. It is unknown how, but they also may sometimes depreciate over time. LANGUAGE In the ''Star Trek'' television shows, Ferengi, like almost every other alien race are almost always shown speaking in English , but as with other races, they are known to have their own language. The Deep Space Nine episode "Little Green Men" shows Ferengi speaking their own language when their implanted Universal Translators malfunction, one of the few alien races whose language have been thus heard by the home viewer. Several episodes show examples of the Ferengi written language or script, some of them being animated on computer displays, as if they were a futuristic version of a Ferengi Stock Ticker . Ferengi writing is meant to resemble a flow chart. There exists an unofficial Constructed Ferengi language . (Link broken, see a version from Google Groups .) FERENGI ALLIANCE In the fictional Star Trek universe, this is the unified alliance of Ferengi inhabited and controlled worlds located North-East of the Federation on the galactic map. It is a relatively small but very powerful group that plays a significant role in the economy of the quadrant. The Ferengi Alliance is ultimately controlled by the Grand Nagus, followed by his subordinates in the Ferengi Commerce Authority . The ultimate aim of this group is to make profit, either through galactic expansion, acquisition ( see the Rules Of Acquisition ), or trade. In the past, acquisition has been gained through attacking other ships and worlds and taking anything of value. More recently it has been determined that you cannot make a profit if you're blown up, and that peaceful trade is more profitable, so this hostile approach has been eliminated on the whole. The Ferengi Alliance operates on a strictly patriarchal society in which women are forbidden to wear clothing or leave the home, and can absolutely never make profit. The atmospherics of Ferenginar (the Ferengi homeworld) are very stable. It is almost always raining heavily. There is strong Ferengi presence around Deep Space 9 as the gateway to business in the gamma quadrant. In 2375, Grand Nagus Zek retired and Grand Nagus Rom took command over the Ferengi Alliance. Since this took place, there have been many reforms in Ferengi society, including the ability of women to leave the home and earn profit, health system reforms, the outlawing of monopolies and there have been many social support systems implemented. The potential for the Ferengi Alliance to ultimately join the United Federation Of Planets is not an unlikely one. HISTORY According to legend, in ancient times the Ferengi and the Gree vied for control of their planet. Before uniting under a Nagus, Ferenginar was divided into warring Commerce Zones. This was known as the "Barter Age." In about the 9th Millennium B.C. Gint started writing the Rules Of Acquisition laying the basis for Ferengi society. In 1947 , a Ferengi craft from the 2370s (carrying Quark , Rom , Nog and Odo ) crashed in Roswell, New Mexico . This was humanity's first contact with the Ferengi, although "officially" the record showed that the crashed alien ship was actually a weather balloon. At some point between 1947 and 2151, the Ferengi purchased Warp Drive from the Breen . In 2355, the (still unknown) Ferengi fought Jean-Luc Picard at the Battle of Maxia. Picard, commanding the ''USS Stargazer'' , destroyed the Ferengi ship, which never identified itself, and as a result Bok, the father of the Ferengi who captained that vessel, sought revenge on Picard, first in ''Next Generation'''s first season episode, "The Battle" , and later in its seventh season, in the episode "Bloodlines" . LEADERSHIP The leader of the Ferengi government holds the title " Grand Nagus ".
OTHER NOTABLE FERENGI
FERENGINAR The Ferengi home planet has been shown a number of times and has been referred to quite often as well. While not a great deal is known about it, it is almost always referred to and depicted as a massive swamp, with torrential downpours occurring constantly. Not surprisingly, there are 178 different words for "rain" in the Ferengi language. It also explains, at least partially, why Ferengi diet consists of things such as grubs and snails, as these lifeforms would have been more prevalent in the marsh like environment, and agriculture would have been difficult in this climate. Perhaps the most notable landmark on Ferenginar is the Tower of Commerce, which at 40 stories is the tallest building on the planet. TRIVIA Despite '''' being set so far from known space, they made a few appearances in this series as well; one instance was the follow-up to the ''Next Generation'' episode '' "The Price" '', in which a pair of Ferengi were stranded on the far side of a wormhole. Several Ferengi became the only beings to ever break into Fort Knox . When they found it held gold and not gold-pressed latinum, they became distraught and were captured. It has been assumed that their Intristic currency, gold-pressed latinum, cannot be replicated exactly with the technology of the time. The Borg designation for the Ferengi is "species 180." REDEEMING QUALITIES The Ferengi realize that Humans and other species often look down on them for their ravenous Profiteering and lack of independent technological or cultural achievements. However, Ferengi often see other races as self-righteous and, as Ferengi have come into regular contact with Humans, their own self-image has improved by comparison. While their criticism that Humans took well over 6,000 years to develop a Central Banking system after the beginning of their civilization may seem lacking in moral force, other arguments can be more convincing.
In one episode of ''DS9'', Quark and Commander Sisko share an exchange in which Quark makes a strong case for the argument that the Ferengi are a more civilized race than humans:
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