A root in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “year” with derivatives like ᴹQ. yén/N. în “year” (Ety/YEN). Tolkien’s ongoing use of words like Q. yén and S. ínias “annals” indicate its ongoing validity (LotR/377; MR/200), but in Quenya at least the meaning shifted to that of an “Elvish long year”, equal to 144 solar years (LotR/1107; MR/471; NM/84).
Middle Primitive Elvish
rin
root. *circle
Derivatives
Element in
yenrinde
noun. year
Derivatives
- N. idhrin “year, *(lit.) year-circle” ✧ Ety/YEN
Variations
- ı̯en-rinde ✧ Ety/YEN
- ien-rinde ✧ EtyAC/YEN
yen
root. year
Derivatives
Element in
Variations
- YEN ✧ Ety/GENG-WĀ; Ety/GENG-WĀ; Ety/LEP; Ety/RIN; Ety/YA; Ety/YEN
This root first appeared as unglossed ᴱ√RINI in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. rin (rind-) “year, circle” and ᴱQ. rinko “disc, orb, circle” (QL/80). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. rin- “revolve, return, come back; do again” and G. rinc “circular; disc, rondure” (GL/65), but also strengthened forms like G. †drinn “ring, disc” and G. drintha- “to turn (tr.), twist” (GL/30). The root reappeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s with derivatives like ᴹQ. rinda/N. rhenn “circular” and ᴹQ. rinde/N. rhinn “circle” (Ety/RIN).