Quenya 

orco

orc

orco ("k") noun "Orc", pl. orcor or orqui (WJ:390, ÓROK; pl. Orcor also in WJ:12, MR:74, 194). If the pl. form orqui is preferred, the word should be assigned the stem-form orcu-. Early "Qenya" has orc ("k") (orqu-) ("q") "monster, demon" (LT1:264; in LotR-style Quenya, no word can end in -rc.)

orco

noun. Orc

This word was adapted from its Sindarin cognate orch, since the Noldor did not encounter orcs until they returned to Middle-earth (WJ/390). There are two attested plurals for this word, orqui and orcor. One possible scenario is that the word was at first treated as a u-stem noun by analogy with urco (urcu-), but later as the two words were disassociated, the declension of orco was regularized and treated as an ordinary vocalic noun.

This is the theory followed here, so that orcor is considered the regular plural and orqui archaic, probably active only in the First Age. If you use the orqui plural, you should also treat this as a u-stem noun (orcu-). @@@

Cognates

  • S. orch “Orc, Orc, [N.] goblin” ✧ PE17/047; WJ/390
  • Bs. uruk “Orc” ✧ PE17/047
  • Wes. orka “orc” ✧ PE17/047

Derivations

  • S. orch “Orc, Orc, [N.] goblin” ✧ PE17/047; WJ/390
    • urku/urkō “orc” ✧ WJ/390
    • RUK “terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, [ᴹ√] demon” ✧ WJ/389
    • urkā “horrible” ✧ WJ/390
    • RUK “terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, [ᴹ√] demon” ✧ WJ/389

Variations

  • orko ✧ WJ/390
  • Orko ✧ WJI/Orc(s)
Quenya [MR/074; MR/194; MRI/Orcs; PE17/047; WJ/012; WJ/390; WJI/Orc(s)] Group: Eldamo. Published by

urco

orc

urco ("k"), stem *urcu- and pl. urqui, noun: an old word used in the lore of the Blessed Realm for anything that caused fear to the Elves during the March; by the Exiled Noldor the word was recognized as the cognate of Sindarin orch and used to mean "Orc". The Sindarin-influenced form orco was also used. (WJ:390)

Sindarin 

glamog

noun. orc

Element in

  • S. Glamdring “Foe-hammer” ✧ WJ/391
  • S. Glamhoth “Orcs, (lit.) Din-horde, Host of Tumult” ✧ WJI/Glamhoth

Variations

  • Glamog ✧ WJI/Glamhoth
Sindarin [WJ/391; WJI/Glamhoth] Group: Eldamo. Published by

orch

Orc

pl1. yrch, pl2. orchoth** ** n. Orc. Nand. ūriſ.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:47:52:54:127] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

orch

noun. Orc, Orc, [N.] goblin

Cognates

  • Ad. uruk “orc, goblin” ✧ WJ/390
  • Bs. uruk “Orc” ✧ WJ/390; Let/178; PE17/052
  • Kh. rukhs “Orc” ✧ WJ/390
  • Q. orco “Orc” ✧ PE17/047; WJ/390
  • Nan. urch “Orc” ✧ PE17/054

Derivations

  • urku/urkō “orc” ✧ WJ/390
    • RUK “terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, [ᴹ√] demon” ✧ WJ/389
  • urkā “horrible” ✧ WJ/390
    • RUK “terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, [ᴹ√] demon” ✧ WJ/389

Derivatives

  • Q. orco “Orc” ✧ PE17/047; WJ/390

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
urkō > orch[urkō] > [urko] > [urkʰo] > [urxo] > [orxo] > [orx]✧ WJ/390
urkā > orch[urkā] > [urka] > [urkʰa] > [urxa] > [orxa] > [orx]✧ WJ/390
urkō > Yrch[urkī] > [urki] > [urkʰi] > [urxi] > [orxi] > [urxi] > [yrxi] > [yrx]✧ WJ/390

Variations

  • Orch ✧ WJ/390; WJI/Orc(s)
Sindarin [Let/178; LotR/0345; LotR/1131; LotRI/Orcs; MR/195; MRI/Orcs; PE17/047; PE17/052; PE17/054; PE17/127; RC/762; RGEO/66; WJ/390; WJI/Orc(s)] Group: Eldamo. Published by

orch

noun. Goblin, Orc

Sindarin [Ety/379, LR/406, WJ/390, LotR/II:VI, LotR/F, Let] Group: SINDICT. Published by

orchoth

noun. the Orcs (as a race)

Sindarin [WJ/390] orch+hoth. Group: SINDICT. Published by

urug

noun. Orc (rarely used)

Sindarin [WJ/390] Group: SINDICT. Published by

glamhoth

noun. barbaric host of Orcs

Sindarin [Ety/358, Ety/364, Ety/377, UT/39, UT/54, WJ/390] glam+hoth "the dinhorde, the yelling horde". Group: SINDICT. Published by

urug

noun. "bogey", anything that caused fear to the Elves, any dubious shape or shadow, or prowling creature

Sindarin [WJ/390] Group: SINDICT. Published by

glamog

noun. an Orc, "a yelling one"

Sindarin [WJ/390] Group: SINDICT. Published by

glamhoth

collective name. Orcs, (lit.) Din-horde, Host of Tumult

A collective term for Orcs, translated “din-horde” or “host(s) of tumult” (UT/54, MR/109, PE17/39). This name is combination of glam “din, uproar” and hoth “host, horde” (WJ/391, SA/hoth). This term was sufficiently common that it was generalized into another word for Orc: glamog (WJ/391).

Conceptual Development: The term G. Glamhoth was used for Orcs in the earliest Lost Tales (LT2/160), but at this early stage was translated “People of Dreadful Hate” with its initial element being G. glâm “hate” (GL/39). In The Etymologies from the 1930s, Tolkien revised the derivation of N. Glamhoth so that its initial element was N. glamm “shouting, confused noise; barbarous speech” (Ety/GLAM), and the term retained essentially the same derivation in later writings.

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
glam“din, uproar, the confused yelling and bellowing of beasts, din, uproar, bellowing of beasts, [N.] shouting, confused noise; barbarous speech; [ᴱN.] hatred, [G.] loathing, fierce hate”
hoth“host, horde, host, horde, [N.] crowd; group plural; [ᴱN.] folk, [G.] people; †army”

Variations

  • glam-hoth ✧ PE17/039
Sindarin [MR/109; MR/195; MRI/Glamhoth; PE17/039; SA/hoth; UT/039; UT/054; UTI/Glamhoth; WJ/391; WJI/Glamhoth] Group: Eldamo. Published by

orch

orc

orch (pl. yrch**, archaic †yrchy, coll. pl. orchoth). (RGEO:66, Names:171, Letters:178, MR:195; WJ:390-91, VT46:7). Other terms: 1) urug (monster, bogey), pl. yryg, 2) glamog (i **lamog), pl. glemyg (in glemyg) (WJ:391), 3) ”

orch

orc

(pl. yrch, archaic †yrchy, coll. pl. orchoth). (RGEO:66, Names:171, Letters:178, MR:195; WJ:390-91, VT46:7). Other terms:  1) urug (monster, bogey), pl. yryg, 2) glamog (i ’lamog), pl. glemyg (in glemyg) (WJ:391), 3) ”

glam

body of orcs

(i ’lam) (din, uproar, tumult, confused yelling of beasts; shouting, confused noise), pl. glaim (in glaim), coll. pl. glammath

glamhoth

host of tumult

(a term for Orcs, also translated ”Yelling-horde”). (UT:54, MR:109, 195;

Nandorin 

urch

noun. Orc

Cognates

  • S. orch “Orc, Orc, [N.] goblin” ✧ PE17/054
Nandorin [PE17/054] Group: Eldamo. Published by

ūriʃ

noun. orcs

Nandorin [PE17/54] Published by

urc

noun. Orc

pl. yrc. In the Etymologies, the primitive form of this word is given as órku (defined as "goblin"), derived from an undefined stem ÓROK (LR:379).

This stem may be understood as a vowel-prefixed variant of the stem ROK "horse", assuming that this originally referred to the steed of the monstrous "dark Rider upon his wild horse" that haunted the Elves by Cuiviénen, assuming that the stem ROK was originally associated with Melkor's creatures. However, Tolkien later derived the Elvish words for "Orc" from a stem RUKU having to do with fear (WJ:389) and listed tentative primitive forms: urku, uruku, urkô. Since primitive final -u is lost in Nandorin (cf. Utum from Utubnu), the forms urku and uruku would evidently be capable of yielding Green-elven urc (while urkô would rather come out as *urca; cf. golda "Noldo" from ñgolodô). The plural form yrc clearly shows umlaut caused by the lost Primitive Quendian plural ending ; cf. the umlaut caused by the primitive adjectival ending -i, primitive lugni "blue" yielding lygn.

Nandorin [H. Fauskanger (LR:379)] < ÓROK?. Published by

Black Speech

uruk

noun. Orc

Cognates

  • S. orch “Orc, Orc, [N.] goblin” ✧ WJ/390; Let/178; PE17/052
  • Q. orco “Orc” ✧ PE17/047

Derivations

  • urku/urkō “orc” ✧ WJ/390
    • RUK “terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, [ᴹ√] demon” ✧ WJ/389

Element in

  • Bs. Uruk-hai “Orc-folk” ✧ WJI/Uruk

Variations

  • Uruks ✧ LotR/0324; LotRI/Uruks
  • uruks ✧ SD/033
  • Uruk ✧ WJI/Uruk
Black Speech [Let/178; LotR/0324; LotR/1131; LotRI/Uruks; PE17/047; PE17/052; SD/033; WJ/390; WJI/Uruk] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Khuzdûl

rukhs

noun. Orc

Cognates

  • S. orch “Orc, Orc, [N.] goblin” ✧ WJ/390

Derivations

  • urku/urkō “orc” ✧ WJ/390
    • RUK “terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, [ᴹ√] demon” ✧ WJ/389

Variations

  • Rukhs ✧ WJ/391
  • Rúkhs ✧ WJI/Rúkhs
Khuzdûl [WJ/391; WJI/Rúkhs] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Primitive elvish

urku/urkō

noun. orc

Derivations

  • RUK “terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, terrible shapes and the fear they inspire, [ᴹ√] demon” ✧ WJ/389

Derivatives

  • Ad. uruk “orc, goblin” ✧ WJ/390
  • Bs. uruk “Orc” ✧ WJ/390
  • Kh. rukhs “Orc” ✧ WJ/390
  • Q. urco “bogey, orc” ✧ WJ/390
  • S. orch “Orc, Orc, [N.] goblin” ✧ WJ/390
    • Q. orco “Orc” ✧ PE17/047; WJ/390
  • S. urug “bogey” ✧ WJ/390

Variations

  • uruk ✧ WJ/390
  • urku/uruku ✧ WJ/390
  • urkō ✧ WJ/390
Primitive elvish [WJ/390] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

orch

noun. Goblin, Orc

Noldorin [Ety/379, LR/406, WJ/390, LotR/II:VI, LotR/F, Let] Group: SINDICT. Published by

orch

noun. goblin

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. orko “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK; LR/406

Derivations

  • On. orko “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK; Ety/ÓROK
    • ᴹ✶orku “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK
    • ᴹ√OROK “*goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
On. orko > orch[orko] > [orkʰo] > [orxo] > [orx]✧ Ety/ÓROK
On. orkui > yrchy[orkui] > [orkʰui] > [orxui] > [urxui] > [yrxui] > [yrxy]✧ Ety/ÓROK
Noldorin [Ety/ÓROK; EtyAC/ÓROK; LR/406; PE22/041; TI/229; TII/Orcs] Group: Eldamo. Published by

glamhoth

noun. barbaric host of Orcs

Noldorin [Ety/358, Ety/364, Ety/377, UT/39, UT/54, WJ/390] glam+hoth "the dinhorde, the yelling horde". Group: SINDICT. Published by

glamhoth

collective name. Orcs, (lit.) Barbaric Host

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
glamm“shouting, confused noise; barbarous speech”
hoth“host, crowd; group plural”
Noldorin [Ety/GLAM; Ety/KHOTH; Ety/ÑGAL; LR/233; LRI/Glamhoth; PE21/57; SM/082; SMI/Glamhoth] Group: Eldamo. Published by

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!

Westron

orka

noun. orc

Cognates

  • Q. orco “Orc” ✧ PE17/047

Rohirric

orc

noun. Orc

Variations

  • Orc ✧ LotR/1131
Rohirric [LotR/1131] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Wose

gorgûn

collective noun. orcs, orc-folk

Variations

  • Gorgûn ✧ WJI/Gorgûn; WRI/Gorgûn
Wose [LotR/0832; LotRI/Orcs; PE17/099; WJ/391; WJI/Gorgûn; WRI/Gorgûn] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Qenya 

orko

noun. goblin

Cognates

  • On. orko “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK
  • N. orch “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK; LR/406
  • Ilk. urch “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK
  • Dan. urc “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶orku “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK
    • ᴹ√OROK “*goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Element in

  • ᴹQ. Orqin “language of the Orcs”

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶órku > orko[orku] > [orko]✧ Ety/ÓROK

Variations

  • ork ✧ LR/406
Qenya [Ety/ÓROK; LR/406] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Doriathrin

urch

noun. goblin

A Doriathrin noun for “goblin” developed from primitive ᴹ✶orku, also attested in its plural form urchin (Ety/ÓROK). The change of [[ilk|[k] to [x] (“ch”) after the liquid [l]]] was a normal Ilkorin development, but the change of [o] to [u] is harder to explain, as noted by Helge Fauskanger (AL-Doriathrin/urch). In an earlier version of the entry Tolkien wrote Dor. orch (EtyAC/ÓROK), which is the expected form. The simplest explanation is that this form actually developed from a variant primitive form ✱✶urku. There is a similar issue with Dan. urc, so perhaps this variant was used by those Eldar who did not complete the journey to Valinor.

Changes

  • orchurch ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. orko “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶orku “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK
    • ᴹ√OROK “*goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶órku > urch[orku] > [orko] > [urko] > [urxo] > [urx]✧ Ety/ÓROK

Variations

  • orch ✧ EtyAC/ÓROK (Dor. orch)
Doriathrin [Ety/ÓROK; EtyAC/ÓROK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Ossriandric

urc

noun. goblin

A noun for “goblin” developed from primitive ᴹ✶orku, also attested in its plural form yrc (Ety/ÓROK). The change of [o] to [u] is hard to explain, as noted by Helge Fauskanger (AL-Nandorin/urc). In an earlier version of the entry Tolkien wrote Dan. orc (EtyAC/ÓROK), which is the expected form. The simplest explanation is that this form actually developed from a variant primitive form ✱✶urku. There is a similar issue with Ilk. urch, so perhaps this variant was used by those Eldar who did not complete the journey to Valinor.

Changes

  • orcurc ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. orko “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶orku “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK
    • ᴹ√OROK “*goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶órku > urc[orku] > [urku] > [urk]✧ Ety/ÓROK

Variations

  • orc ✧ EtyAC/ÓROK (orc)
Ossriandric [Ety/ÓROK; EtyAC/ÓROK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Old Noldorin 

orko

noun. goblin

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. orko “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶orku “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK
    • ᴹ√OROK “*goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Derivatives

  • N. orch “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK; Ety/ÓROK

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶órku > orko[orku] > [orko]✧ Ety/ÓROK
ᴹ✶órku > orkui[orkui] > [orkui]✧ Ety/ÓROK
Old Noldorin [Ety/ÓROK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Middle Primitive Elvish

orku

noun. goblin

Derivations

  • ᴹ√OROK “*goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK

Derivatives

  • Ilk. urch “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK
  • Dan. urc “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK
  • ᴹQ. orko “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK
  • On. orko “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK
    • N. orch “goblin” ✧ Ety/ÓROK; Ety/ÓROK

Variations

  • órku ✧ Ety/ÓROK
Middle Primitive Elvish [Ety/ÓROK] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

orc

noun. goblin

Cognates

  • Eq. ork “ogre, monster, demon, giant” ✧ LT2A/Balcmeg; PE15/21; PE13/099; PE13/102
  • Eq. Hongwir “ogres of the north” ✧ PE13/099

Element in

  • G. orcômin “fierce and bloody minded” ✧ GL/63

Variations

  • Orc ✧ LT1A/Orc
Gnomish [GL/63; LT1A/Orc; LT2A/Balcmeg; PE13/099; PE13/102; PE15/21; PE15/25] Group: Eldamo. Published by