cirincë

noun. scarlet-plumed species of bird

A species of Númenorean bird that Tolkien described as “no bigger than wrens, but all scarlet, with piping voices on the edge of human hearing”, appearing only in its plural form kirinki (UT/169; NM/337). It is not clear what, if any, terrestrial species it equated to. It might be a diminutive form based on √KIR “cut”, so perhaps literally “✱little cutter”.

Elements

Word	Gloss
KIR	“cut, cleave, pass swiftly through; shave; skim (surface), slip along, glide quickly”
-incë	“diminutive ending”

cirinci

no bigger than wrens, but all scarlet, with piping voices on the edge of human hearing

cirinci ("k"), sg. *cirincë, noun: a species of birds, "no bigger than wrens, but all scarlet, with piping voices on the edge of human hearing" (UT:169). The word seems to incorporate the diminutive ending -incë.