iti

root. peck, bite (of flies), annoy

A root in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “peck, bite (of flies), annoy” with derivatives like ᴱQ. itisya- “to itch, irritate” and ᴱQ. itse “small fly” (QL/43). The Gnomish word for “fly”, G. sitha, was probably related (GL/68). There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing, and the word for “fly” became Q. pupso/S. budhu (PE19/101). However, I think it is worth postulating a Neo-Eldarin root ᴺ√ITITH to salvage early Qenya words for itch and annoy.

Derivatives

• Eq. itis “a fly bite” ✧ QL/043
• Eq. itisya- “to itch, irritate” ✧ QL/043
• Eq. itse “small fly” ✧ QL/043
• G. sitha “fly”

Variations

• ITI ✧ QL/043; QL/047

iti Speculative

root. precious

A hypothetical root to explain words in the Gnomish Lexicon such as G. idra “dear, valued, precious” and G. idril “sweetheart”, the latter being the earliest etymology of the name G. Idril (GL/50). For the later etymologies of this name and the possible conceptual evolution of the root, see the entries for √IR “desire” and √IT “glitter, shine, shimmer, twinkle”.

Derivatives

• G. idra “dear, valued, precious”
• G. idri “treasure, thing of great worth, jewel”