laith

adjective. *lost

An adjective for “lost” appearing in its plural form laithi in Gnomish translations of the name of The Book of Lost Tales: G. i·band a·gwentin laithi or i band cwention laithi from The Gnomish Grammar (GG/11-12). It is clearly related to the verb G. laitha- “let slip, lose” from the Gnomish Lexicon (GL/52).

laith

noun. time, the course of time; (properly) lapse

lith-

verb. to go, depart, be over, finish, end, die

A verb in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “go, depart, be over, finish, end, die” (GL/54). The early root ᴱ√lith- also seems to have been related to time (see G. laith “time, the course of time”), so the meaning of this verb may have originally been exclusively temporal, only later spatial.

laith(r)a-

verb. to let slip, lose, mislay, forget; (intr.) to be lost

A verb appearing as G. laitha- or laithra- “let slip, lose, mislay, forget” from the Gnomish Lexicon; it could also be used intransitively to mean “to be lost”, especially in the form laithra- (GL/52). Tolkien said it was the result of a mingling of two roots: ᴱ√lech and ᴱ√lith-, the former having to do with slippery things and the latter with time.

Neo-Sindarin: In 2018 I made an attempt to salvage this verb (my suggestion was ᴺS. laetha-), but this was rejected by the community. In a Discord conversation in 2022-04-16, Elaran proposed redefining this verb as lítha- “to let slip, lose, mislay; (intr.) to be lost” based on the later root √LIK “slip” which was recently published; by extension it can also mean “to forget”. I quickly adopted Elaran’s proposal as better than mine.

laithra

adjective. dead and gone, over, former, of yore, forgotten

aluin

masculine name. Time

lûm

noun. time