fir-

verb. to fade, *die

A verb for “to fade” implied by the noun firith “fading”, a period of the year in late autumn (LotR/1107). It also appears to mean “die” given related words fíreb “mortal” (WJ/387) and firin or firen “mortal, dying” (PE17/101). Its ancient root √PHIR had nothing to do with death, so these meanings were probably borrowed from Quenya; see Q. fir- “to die” and Q. fírië “death” for discussion. As such, the Sindarin verb fir- probably applied only to the natural death of mortals, also used metaphorically when applied to inanimate things to mean “fade”. The pre-Quenya verb for “to die” seems to be [N.] gwanna- “to die, (lit.) depart”; see that entry for discussion.

fir

die

1) fir- (i fîr, i firir) (fade), 2) gwanna- (i **wanna, in gwannar**) (depart)

fir

die

(i fîr, i firir) (fade)

fir

fade

1) fir- (i fîr, i firir) (die), 2) pel- (i bêl, i phelir) (wither), 3) thinna- (grow toward evening)

fir

fade

(i fîr, i firir) (die)

ecthelorn

noun. spruce, fir-tree

A neologism for “spruce, fir-tree” coined by Hialmr on VQP (VQP), a combination of [N.] ecthel “point” and orn “(tall) tree”.

gwanna

die

(i ’wanna, in gwannar) (depart)

pel

fade

(i bêl, i phelir) (wither)

pen

less

S pen (lenited ben) (without, lacking) (WJ:375) The phrase ben-adar ”without father, fatherless” is treated as an adjective and lenited following a noun (Iarwain ben-adar, Iarwain the Fatherless or Iarwain without father). Not to be confused with the pronoun pen ”one, somebody, anybody”.

pen

less

(lenited ben) (without, lacking) (WJ:375) The phrase ben-adar ”without father, fatherless” is treated as an adjective and lenited following a noun (Iarwain ben-adar, Iarwain the Fatherless or Iarwain without father).  Not to be confused with the pronoun pen ”one, somebody, anybody”.

thinna

fade

(grow toward evening)

fir-

verb. to die, fade, †expire, breathe forth

A verb for “to die”, originally meaning “breathe forth, expire” (MR/250). Tolkien also translated it as “die, fade” in notes for the Markirya poem of the 1960s (MC/223). The use of this verb for death was connected to the passing of Míriel and was thus used only for a natural or peaceful death (MR/250); for discussion see the noun form fírië “death”. More unpleasant forms of death would instead use the verb Q. qual-. Based on the glosses from the Markirya poem, it seems this verb may also be applied metaphorically to non-living things that “fade (away)”, as in its more elaborate form fifíru- “to slowly fade away” (MC/222-223).

fir-

verb. die, fade

fir- vb. "die, fade" (cf. fifíru-); aorist (?) fírë "expire"; augmentless perfect fírië, translated "she has breathed forth"(but no explicit element meaning "she" seems to be present) (MR:250, 470, VT43:34)

qual-

verb. to die

A verb for “to die” in Late Notes on Verb Structure (LVS) from 1969 (PE22/152), clearly based on the root √KWAL having to do with pain and death (PE18/91, 103; Ety/KWAL). As such, I would use this verb for undesirable or painful death, as opposed to fir- “to die (a natural or peaceful death)”.

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. qal- meant “die” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE16/134), and the root √KWAL had a long history of connection to death and pain in Tolkien’s writings.

fifíru-

verb. slowly fade away

fifíru- vb.; this is evidently the frequentative (see sisíla-) form of fir-; according to MC:223 it means "slowly fade away"; participle fifírula in Markirya (translated "fading")

firië

dying, death

firië noun "dying, death" (gerund of fir-) (VT43:34)

mis

less

mis adverbial particle "less" (PE14:80)

qual-

verb. die

quel-

verb. to fade, to fade; [ᴹQ.] †to fail; [ᴱQ.] to perish

A verb for “to fade” indicated by the season and month names quellë “fading” and Narquelië “Sun-fading” in The Lord of the Rings appendices (LotR/1110). It was clearly derived from the root √KWEL “fade, die away, grow faint” (PE18/103).

Conceptual Development: This verb dates back to the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, where ᴱQ. qele- “perish, etc.” appeared under the early root ᴱ√QELE “perish, die, decay, fail” (QL/76). In Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s, qel- was glossed “fade” (PE16/134). In ᴹQ. Fíriel’s Song from the 1930s it appeared in its future form ᴹQ. qeluva “faileth” (LR/63, 72).

sinta-

verb. fade

sinta- (þ) (2) vb. "fade", pa.t. sintanë (THIN)

vinda-

verb. fade

[vinda- vb. "fade"; pa.t. vindanë given (VT46:21). Compare vinta-.]

vinta-

verb. fade

[vinta- (2) vb. "fade", pa.t. vintë, vintanë given. (WIN/WIND) Compare vinda-.]

ampícië

adverb. less

súcë

noun. resinous tree, pine or fir

undo

less

A neologism for “less” as an adjective or pronoun, proposed by Arael in a 2022-02-24 chat Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS) as the opposite of amba “more”.

undë

adverb. less

A neologism for “less” as an adverb proposed by Paul Strack in a 2022-02-27 chat Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), inspired by the adjective/pronoun undo “less”.

gwinna-

verb. to fade

thinna-

verb. to fade, to grow towards evening

The punctuation in The Etymologies is considered incorrect (the full dot after this word should conceivably be a comma)