Noldorin 

gwaun

noun. goose

A noun for “goose” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶wān under the root ᴹ√ “blow” (Ety/WĀ), where ancient ā became au. It had a Noldorin plural form of guin, but if adapted to (Neo) Sindarin its plural would be gwoen: compare Sindarin plural S. noeg of naug “dwarf” (UT/100) vs. its Noldorin plural N. nuig (EtyAC/NAUK).

Noldorin [Ety/WA-N] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-ion

suffix. son

bess

noun. (young) woman

Noldorin [Ety/352, SD/129-31] Group: SINDICT. Published by

bess

noun. wife

Noldorin [Ety/352, SD/129-31] Group: SINDICT. Published by

dess

noun. young woman

Noldorin [Ety/375] Group: SINDICT. Published by

noun. woman, lady

Noldorin [Ety/352, Ety/354] Group: SINDICT. Published by

garn

noun. own, property

Noldorin [Ety/360] Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwaun

noun. goose

Noldorin [Ety/397, X/Z] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ionn

noun. son

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

Noldorin [Ety/400, MR/373, X/ND1, X/ND2] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ionn

noun. scion, male descendant

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

Noldorin [Ety/400, MR/373, X/ND1, X/ND2] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ionn

noun. son

Sindarin 

gwaun

goose

gwaun (i **waun), pl. goen (i ngoen = i ñoen). Coll. pl. ?gonath. In ”Noldorin”, the pl. form was guin**.

gwaun

goose

(i ’waun), pl. goen (i ngoen = i ñoen). Coll. pl. ?gonath. – In ”Noldorin”, the pl. form was guin.

adaneth

noun. (mortal) woman

Sindarin [MR/349] adan+-eth. Group: SINDICT. Published by

arwen

noun. noble woman

Sindarin [Arwen (name) LotR] ar-+gwend. Group: SINDICT. Published by

bess

noun. (young) woman

Sindarin [Ety/352, SD/129-31] Group: SINDICT. Published by

bess

noun. wife

Sindarin [Ety/352, SD/129-31] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ion

noun. son

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

Sindarin [Ety/400, MR/373, X/ND1, X/ND2] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ion

noun. scion, male descendant

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

Sindarin [Ety/400, MR/373, X/ND1, X/ND2] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ion(n)

noun. son, son, *boy

The usual word for “son” in Sindarin, derived from the root √YON of similar meaning (MR/373; SD/129; VT50/18; Ety/YŌ). Tolkien gave it as both ion and ionn.

Conceptual Development: In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s the word for “son” was G. bo or bon (GL/23). This became ᴱN. “son” in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/144). Tolkien introduced N. ionn “son” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√YO(N) of the same meaning (Ety/YŌ), and seems to have stuck with it thereafter.

Neo-Sindarin: In later writings, Tolkien sometimes glossed its Quenya equivalents yondo or yonyo as “boy” (PE17/190; VT47/10, 27). Since we don’t have any good Sindarin words for “boy”, I’d use ionn for this purpose as well.

Sindarin [AotM/062; MR/373; SD/129; VT50/18] Group: Eldamo. Published by

iond

noun. son

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

Sindarin [Ety/400, MR/373, X/ND1, X/ND2] Group: SINDICT. Published by

iond

noun. scion, male descendant

For the second meaning, cf. Hadorion, a Húrin's epithet in WJ/294, Hurinionath referring to the house of Húrin the Steward in PM/202-3,218, and Gil-Galad's epithet Ereinion, cf. also the gloss of the old Qenya cognate yondo "descendant of" in PE/12:106, or the use of the same suffix in later Quenya names such as Isildurioni and Anárioni "Heirs of Isildur (resp. Anárion)" in PM/192,196

Sindarin [Ety/400, MR/373, X/ND1, X/ND2] Group: SINDICT. Published by

ionnath

noun. all the sons

Sindarin [SD/129-31] Group: SINDICT. Published by

iôn

noun. son

Sindarin [WJ/337] Group: SINDICT. Published by

iôn

masculine name. Son

A name that Eöl used for his son Maeglin while he was growing, which is simply ion(n) “son” used as a name (WJ/337).

Sindarin [WJ/337; WJI/Iôn] Group: Eldamo. Published by

adaneth

mortal woman

(pl. edenith), also firieth (pl. firith).

bess

woman

bess (i vess, construct bes) (wife), pl. biss (i miss). The word etymologically means ”wife”, but the meaning was generalized.

bess

woman

(i vess, construct bes) (wife), pl. biss (i miss). The word etymologically means ”wife”, but the meaning was generalized.

dess

young woman

(i ness, o ndess, constuct des), pl. diss (i ndiss).

garn

own

(adj.) garn (lenited arn; pl. gern); also as noun "ones own" = property: garn (i **arn), pl. gern (i ngern** = i ñern).

garn

own

(lenited ’arn; pl. gern); also as noun "one’s own" = property: garn (i ’arn), pl. gern (i ngern = i ñern).

gwanur

kinsman

(i ’wanur) (brother), pl. gwenyr (in gwenyr). Note: a homophone of the sg. means ”pair of twins”.

iond

wj

pl. ynd, coll. pl. ionnath.

iôn

son

iôn (-ion) (descendant), pl. ŷn, coll. pl. #ionath_ isolated from Hurinionath (PM:202-3) as the name of the House of Húrin. (MR:373, WJ.337, PM:202-203, 218) _Also iond, pl. ynd, coll. pl. ionnath. DARK SON, see DARK ELF

iôn

son

(-ion) (descendant), pl. ŷn, coll. pl. #*ionath*** isolated from Hurinionath* (PM:202-3) as the name of the House of Húrin. (MR:373*

Adûnaic

kali

noun. woman

A noun translated “woman” (SD/434).

Primitive elvish

nis

root. woman

This root first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as ᴹ√NIS “woman”, an extension of ᴹ√ “female” (Ety/NIS). It also had a strengthened form ᴹ√NDIS, unglossed but apparently meaning “bride” based on its derivatives ᴹQ. indis/N. dîs of that meaning (Ety/NDIS). Unstrengthened ᴹ√NIS seems to have survived only in Quenya as the basis for ᴹQ. nis (niss-) “woman”, but this word was also blended with ✱ndis-sē to produce a longer form nisse of the same meaning.

In Tolkien’s later writings, both short Q. nís and longer nissë appeared as words for “woman” (MR/213; VT47/33) and Q. indis reappeared as well, though glossed “wife” (UT/8). As primitive forms, both unstrengthened √nis (VT47/33) and strengthened ✶ndī̆s “woman” also appeared in later writings, the latter given as the feminine equivalent of ✶[[p|n[d]ēr]] “man” (PE19/102).

Primitive elvish [VT47/18; VT47/33] Group: Eldamo. Published by

yon

root. son

This root was the basis for Elvish “son” words for much of Tolkien’s life. The earliest indications of this root are ᴱQ. †Y̯ó (or y̯ond-) “son” and ᴱQ. yondo “male descendant”, both tied to the patronymic suffix ᴱQ. -ion “son of, descendant of” appearing in many names (QL/106). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon there was also the related patronymic prefix G. go- (GL/40), which implies the existence of a root ✱ᴱ√YO(NO) since [[g|initial [j] usually became [g]]] in Gnomish. However, go- was deleted and changed to G. bo-, along with new Qenya forms ᴱQ. and ᴱQ. vondo (GL/23, 40), implying a change to a root ✱ᴱ√VO(NO).

In Early Noldorin Word-lists from the 1920s, ᴱN. “son” reappeared along with ᴱQ. ion and yondi (PE13/144). In The Etymologies of the 1930s the root appeared as ᴹ√ or ᴹ√YON “son” with derivatives like ᴹQ. yondo/N. ionn “son” and patronymic -ion (Ety/YŌ). The root reappeared in notes from the late 1940s with the sense “son or young man”, though more anciently a general masculine suffix (PE23/87).

However, in notes labeled “Changes affecting Silmarillion nomenclature” from the late 1950s, Tolkien wrote “Delete entirely yondo = ‘son’! Very unsuitable” (PE17/43). This particular note was rejected when Tolkien changed √YON “wide, extensive” to √YAN (PE17/42). Other notes in the same bundle indicate Tolkien was still seeking a new word for son, saying “Q wanted: son, daughter”, though yon(do) remained among the forms he was considering (PE17/170, 190). It seems Tolkien eventually stopped vacillating and restored √YON, since the patronymic -ion was never discarded, and yon- was the basis for “son” words in notes from the late 1960s (VT47/26).

Primitive elvish [PE17/190; VT47/26] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ʒond-

noun. son

Primitive elvish [PE21/78] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Quenya 

Lindissë

woman

Lindissë fem.name, perhaps lin- (root of words having to do with song/music) + (n)dissë "woman" (see nís). (UT:210)

Yón

son

Yón (1) noun "Son" (VT44:12, 17, referring to Jesus. Tolkien rewrote the text in question. Normally the Quenya word for "son" appears as yondo, which also refers to Jesus in one text.)

anon

son

anon noun "son" (PE17:170), possibly intended by Tolkien as a replacement for yondo.

anon

noun. son

A transient word for “son” in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957, written of above the more common yon-do (PE17/170).

manwa

ready

manwa (2) adj. "ready" (QL:59)

nissë

woman

nissë noun "woman" (NDIS-SĒ/SĀ, NI1, NIS, VT47:33); see nís. Note: nissë could apparently also mean "in me", the locative form of the 1st person pronoun ni, q.v.

nissë

noun. woman

woman, female

(2) noun "woman, female" (NI1, INI (NĒR ) ). Not to be confused with as a stressed form of the pronoun ni "I".

nína

woman

#nína (gen.pl. nínaron attested) noun "woman" (VT43:31; this word, as well as some other experimental forms listed in the same source, seem ephemeral: several sources agree that the Quenya word for "woman" is nís, nis [q.v.])

nís

woman

nís (niss-, as in pl. nissi) noun "woman" _(MR:213. The Etymologies gives _nis (or nissë), pl. nissi: see the stems NDIS-SĒ/SĀ, NI1, NIS (NĒR), VT46:4; compare VT47:33. In Tolkien's Quenya rendering of Hail Mary, the plural nísi occurs instead of nissi; this form is curious, since nísi would be expected to turn into *nízi, *_níri** (VT43:31). VT47:33 suggests that Tolkien at one point considered _niþ- as the older form of the stem, which etymology would solve this problem (since s from older þ does not become z > r). Even so, the MR forms, nís with stem niss-, may be preferred. - Compare †, #nína, nisto, Lindissë.

ván

goose

ván noun "goose"; pl. váni given (WA-N). Older wán.

son

(actually spelt ), also vondo, noun "son" (LT2:336; in Tolkien's later Quenya yondo)

wenci

woman, maiden

wenci ("k") noun, apparently a diminutive form of the stem wēn- "woman, maiden". It is possible that this is meant to be Common Eldarin rather than Quenya; if so the Quenya form would be *wencë (compare nercë "little man") (VT48:18)

wán

goose

wán > ván noun "goose" (WA-N).

yondo

son

yondo noun "son" (YŌ/YON, VT43:37); cf. yonya and the patronymic ending -ion. Early "Qenya" has , yond-, yondo "son" (LT2:342). According to LT2:344, these are poetic words, but yondo seems to be the normal word for "son" in LotR-style Quenya. Yón appears in VT44, 17, but Tolkien rewrote the text in question. In LT2:344, yondo is said to mean "male descendant, usually (great) grandson", but in Tolkien's later Quenya, yondo means "son", and the word is so glossed in LT2:342. Dative yondon in VT43:36 (here the "son" in question is Jesus). See also yonya. At one point, Tolkien rejected the word yondo as "very unsuitable" (for the intended meaning?), but no obvious replacement appeared in his writings (PE17:43), unless the (ephemeral?) form anon (q.v.) is regarded as such. In one source, yondo is also defined as "boy" (PE17:190).

yonyo

son, big boy

yonyo noun "son, big boy". In one version, yonyo was also a term used in children's play for "middle finger" or "middle toe", but Tolkien may have dropped this notion, deciding to use hanno "brother" as the alternative play-name (VT47:10, 15, VT48:4)


Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!

Gnomish

guin

adjective. own, held, possessed

An adjective appearing as G. guin “own, held, possessed” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, above another entry G. guig “a piece of property”, with a brace indicating the two entries had been combined (GL/43). It was likely based on gui the past form of G. gôtha- “possess, have, hold” (GL/42).

Neo-Sindarin: For purposes of Neo-Sindarin, I would update this adjective to ᴺS. garnen “owned, held, possessed” as the passive participle of N. gar- “hold, have” from The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from the root ᴹ√GAR (Ety/GAR). Compare N. garn “property” from the same root.

guin

adjective. ready, fresh

guin

noun. *woman

gwin

noun. woman, female

Gnomish [GG/09; GL/39; GL/45; PE13/118] Group: Eldamo. Published by

arn

noun. son

Gnomish [GL/20; PE13/110] Group: Eldamo. Published by

bo(n)

noun. son

Gnomish [GL/23; LT2A/bo] Group: Eldamo. Published by

gwein

noun. *woman

nîr

noun. woman

Early Noldorin

uin

noun. woman

Early Noldorin [PE13/123; PE13/146; PE13/155] Group: Eldamo. Published by

noun. son

Early Noldorin [PE13/144] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nain

noun. woman

Early Noldorin [PE13/123] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

qimi

root. *woman

An unglossed root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s having to do with femininity with derivatives like ᴱQ. qin “woman, female” and ᴱQ. qinde “womanliness, femininity”, as well as various words for “nun” (QL/76). It seems to be related to the Gnomish root ᴱ√GIWI via G(I)WIMI > GWIM > KWIM. In the Gnomish Lexicon beneath various G. gwin- “woman” words Tolkien said: “cp. giwi-; Q qin rare correspondence of q > gw, because it is here from g’w-, not gu̯-” (GL/45). In later writings this root was likely supplanted by √WEN(ED) “woman, maiden, girl”.

Early Primitive Elvish [QL/077] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vo(no) Reconstructed

root. son

Early Primitive Elvish Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

anai

noun. woman

A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s form “woman” with variants anai and anî, a feminine form ᴱQ. anu “a male” (QL/31).

Early Quenya [QL/031] Group: Eldamo. Published by

anî

noun. woman

fion

noun. son

A word glossed {“nephew” >>} “son” in an isolated entry of the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with stem form fiond- (QL/37). The same word appeared unglossed under the early root ᴱ√SUẈU where it was derived from primitive ᴱ✶þẉ-iı̯on-d (QL/87).

Early Quenya [LT1A/Fionwë; QL/038; QL/087] Group: Eldamo. Published by

hilmo

noun. son

hilu

noun. son

A word for “son” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with variants hilu and hilmo under the early root ᴱ√HILI (QL/40), both variants also appearing in the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/40).

Early Quenya [PME/032; PME/040; QL/040; QL/106] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ion

noun. son

In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, ᴱQ. Ion was the “mystic name of God, 2nd Person of Blessed Trinity”, that is the “Son” in the “Father, Son, Holy Ghost” trinity (QL/43). In that document yon or yond- was given in a couple of places as (archaic?) words for “son” (QL/43, 106). In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, Tolkien gave ion as the equivalent of ᴱN. “son”, along with a plural form yondi (PE13/113). However, in the English-Qenya Dictionary Tolkien said yondi was an irregular plural form of ᴱQ. yondo “son” (PE15/77), and this is the form he typically used in later writings.

Early Quenya [PE13/144] Group: Eldamo. Published by

manwa

adjective. ready

Early Quenya [QL/059] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nyél

noun. woman

A word for “woman” in Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s with stem form nyel-, as indicated by its accusative nyela (PE16/135). Its etymology is unclear; Patrick Wynne and Christopher Gilson suggested it might be connected to the early root ᴱ√NYEHE “weep” or later root ᴹ√NYEL “ring, sing”, but these both feel like stretches to me.

Early Quenya [PE16/135] Group: Eldamo. Published by

noun. woman

Early Quenya [GL/60] Group: Eldamo. Published by

qin

noun. woman, female

A noun in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “woman, female” derived from the root ᴱ√QIMI (QL/77). In the Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa it appeared in its stem form qim- (PME/77). The word reappeared with the gloss “woman” in the English-Qenya Dictionary and Early Qenya Word-lists of the 1920s (PE15/79; PE16/135), but seems to have been abandoned after that point.

Early Quenya [PE15/79; PE16/135; PME/077; QL/040; QL/077; QL/095] Group: Eldamo. Published by

vondo

noun. son

Early Quenya [GL/23; LT2A/bo] Group: Eldamo. Published by

noun. son

yanwa

noun. goose

Early Quenya [QL/105] Group: Eldamo. Published by

yon

noun. son

noun. son

Early Quenya [LT2A/go; LT2A/Indorion; QL/043; QL/087; QL/106] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Qenya 

nisse

noun. woman

noun. woman, female

An archaic noun in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “woman” or “female” directly derived from the root ᴹ√, in ordinary speech usually replaced by ᴹQ. nis (Ety/INI, Nι).

Conceptual Development: ᴱQ. “woman” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s as a cognate to G. †nîr of the same meaning (GL/60).

Qenya [Ety/INI; Ety/Nι; EtyAC/Nι] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ván

noun. goose

A noun for “goose” in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶wān under the root ᴹ√ “blow” (Ety/WĀ).

Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s the words for “goose” was ᴱQ. ẏanwa (QL/105).

yondo

noun. son

Qenya [Ety/YŌ; LR/061] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Doriathrin

hon-

prefix. son

Doriathrin [PE21/78] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

noun. woman

Old Noldorin [Ety/Nι; EtyAC/NDIS; EtyAC/Nι; EtyAC/NIS] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

noun. woman

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/NĒR; EtyAC/NDIS; PE21/55] Group: Eldamo. Published by

nī̆s

noun. woman

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/NĒR; PE21/55; PE21/64] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wān

noun. goose

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/WA-N; EtyAC/WA-N] Group: Eldamo. Published by

yondō

noun. son

Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/SEL-D; EtyAC/SEL-D; PE21/37; PE21/58] Group: Eldamo. Published by