Quenya 

lissë

sweet

lissë adj. "sweet" (Nam, RGEO:66); also noun "sweetness", used metaphorically for "grace" (VT43:29, VT44:18); in this sense the word may be compounded as #Erulissë, q.v. Genitive lissëo in VT44:18. - In the entry LIS in the Etymologies, Tolkien originally gave lissë as the noun "honey", but then changed it to lis with stem liss- (VT45:28)

lissë

adjective. sweet

Cognates

  • S. liss “fragrant, sweet”
  • S. laich “sweet” ✧ PE17/154

Derivations

  • lissĭ- ✧ PE17/154
    • LIS “*sweet, [ᴱ√] sweetness, [ᴹ√] honey” ✧ PE17/154

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
lissĭ- > lisse[lissi] > [lisse]✧ PE17/154

Variations

  • lissë ✧ LotR/0377
  • lisse ✧ PE17/064; PE17/064; PE17/154; RGEO/58
  • lísse ✧ RGEO/58
Quenya [LotR/0377; PE17/064; PE17/154; RGEO/58] Group: Eldamo. Published by

melda

beloved, dear, sweet

melda adj. "beloved, dear, sweet" (MEL, VT45:34), superlative arimelda *"dearest" (PE17:56, see ar- #2), meldielto "they are beloved" (sc. meld[a]--lto "beloved-are-they" however, both the stative verb ending - "is/are" and the ending -lto "they" may be obsolete in LotR-style Quenya) (FS) PE17:55 gives the comparative form as arimelda or ammelda and the superlative as eremelda, anamelda or once again ammelda (PE17:55).

vanë

fair

vanë adj. "fair" (LT1:272; in Tolkien's later Quenya rather vanya)

vanë

adjective. fair, fair, [ᴱQ.] lovely

Derivations

  • BAN “beauty (due to lack of fault or blemish); fair, beautiful” ✧ PE17/056

Element in

  • Q. úvanë(a) “without beauty”
  • Q. vanessë “beauty” ✧ PE17/056
  • Q. vanië “beauty” ✧ PE17/056
  • Q. vanima “beautiful, fair, beautiful, fair, *handsome; [ᴱQ.] proper, right, as it should be, fair” ✧ PE17/056

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
BAN > vane[bani] > [bane] > [βane] > [vane]✧ PE17/056

Variations

  • vane ✧ PE17/056

linda

fair, beautiful

linda adj. "fair, beautiful" (of sound) (SLIN, LIND; VT45:27), "soft, gentle, light" (PE16:96), "beautiful, sweet, melodious of sound" (PE17:150); for Linda as a noun, see Lindar.

melwa

lovely

melwa adj. "lovely" (LT1:262); compare melda in Tolkiens later Quenya.

írima

lovely, beautiful, desirable

írima adj. "lovely, beautiful, desirable" (ID, FS, PE17:155), in FS also pl. írimar; in the "Qenya" of Fíriel's Song, adjectives in -a form their plurals in -ar instead of -ë as in LotR-style Quenya.

lir-

verb. to sing, to sing, [ᴹQ.] chant

Derivations

  • LIR “sing, warble, sing, warble, [ᴹ√] trill”

Element in

  • Q. á lirë amlírië “sing harder / better / with more vigour or with more vocalic art” ✧ PE17/094; PE17/094
  • ᴺQ. olirië “concert”

liru-

verb. to sing, to sing (gaily)

Derivations

  • liru- “to sing gaily”
    • LIR “sing, warble, sing, warble, [ᴹ√] trill”

linda

adjective. beautiful (of sound), sweet, melodious; soft, gentle, light, beautiful (of sound), sweet, melodious; soft, gentle, light, [ᴱQ.] kind; [ᴹQ.] fair

Derivations

  • lindā “*sweet sounding”

Element in

Variations

  • Linda ✧ PE17/150
Quenya [PE16/096; PE17/150] Group: Eldamo. Published by

-ima

fair

-ima adjectival suffix. Sometimes it is used to derive simple adjectives, like vanima "fair" or calima "bright"; it can also take on the meaning "-able" (PE17:68), as in mátima "edible" (mat- "eat"), nótima "countable" (not- "count") and (with a negative prefix) úquétima "unspeakable" (from quet- "speak"). Note that the stem-vowel is normally lengthened in the derivatives where -ima means "-able", though this fails to occur in cenima "visible" (q.v., but contrast hraicénima, q.v.) and also before a consonant cluster as in úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176). "X-ima" may mean "apt to X" (when the ending is added to an intransitive verbal stem), as in Fírimar "mortals", literally "those apt to die" (WJ:387). The adj. úfantima "not concealable" (PE17:176) also appears as úfantuma (PE17:180), indicating the existence of a variant ending -uma (possibly used to derive adjectives with a "bad" meaning; compare the ending *-unqua next to -inqua, q.v.)

alima

fair, good

alima adj. "fair, good" (also alya) (PE17:146)

alya

fair, good

alya (1) adj. "fair, good" (PE17:146), "prosperous, rich, abundant, blessed" (GALA). In a deleted entry in Etym, the glosses provided were "rich, blessed"; another deleted entry defined alya as "rich, prosperous, blessed". (GALA, [ÁLAM], VT42:32, 45:5, 14)

vanya

fair

vanya (1) adj. "fair" (FS), "beautiful" (BAN), a word referring to beauty that is "due to lack of fault, or blemish" (PE17:150), hence Arda Vanya as an alternative to Arda Alahasta for "Arda Unmarred" (ibid., compare MR:254). Nominal pl. Vanyar "the Fair", the first clan of the Eldar; the original meaning of this stem was "pale, light-coloured, not brown or dark" (WJ:382, 383, stem given as WAN), "properly = white complexion and blonde hair" (PE17:154, stem given as GWAN); stems BAN vs. WAN discussed, see PE17:150.

Sindarin 

laich

adjective. sweet

Cognates

  • Q. lissë “sweet” ✧ PE17/154

Derivations

  • lisyā “sweet” ✧ PE17/148; PE17/154
    • LIS “*sweet, [ᴱ√] sweetness, [ᴹ√] honey” ✧ PE17/148; PE17/154

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
lisyā > liχı̯ā > leχı̯ > leich > laich[lisjā] > [lixjā] > [lixja] > [lexja] > [lexia] > [lexi] > [leix] > [laix]✧ PE17/148
lisyā > lîch[lisji] > [lixji] > [lixī] > [lix] > [līx]✧ PE17/148

Variations

  • leich ✧ PE17/154
Sindarin [PE17/148; PE17/154] Group: Eldamo. Published by

leich

adjective. sweet

melui

adjective. lovely, sweet

This word only occurs in the place name Imloth Melui, a vale where roses grew

Sindarin [LotR/V:VIII, VT/42:18, RC/582] Group: SINDICT. Published by

melui

adjective. lovely, sweet

Element in

  • S. Imloth Melui “Lovely or Sweet Flower-valley” ✧ RC/582; VT42/18

Elements

WordGloss
mel-“to love”
-ui“-ful, having quality, adjective suffix; possibility, suitability [as verbal suffix], *-able”

Variations

  • Melui ✧ RC/582; VT42/18
Sindarin [RC/582; VT42/18] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lend

adjective. tuneful, sweet

Sindarin [Ety/369, X/LH, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

deil

lovely

_ adj. _lovely, beautiful. Q. lelya. >> dail

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:151] < _delya_ < DEL. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

fael

adjective. fair minded, just, generous

Sindarin [PM/352] Etym. "having a good fëa". Group: SINDICT. Published by

gwain

adjective. fair

adj. fair. . This gloss was rejected.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:140] -. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gwana

noun/adjective. fair

Changes

  • gwaingwana “fair, general word for Elves” ✧ PE17/140

Derivations

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
wanasō > gwana[wanasō] > [wanaso] > [wanaho] > [gwanaho] > [gwanah] > [gwana]✧ PE17/140

Variations

  • gwain ✧ PE17/140 (gwain)

dail

adjective. lovely

_ adj. _lovely, beautiful. Q. lelya. >> deil

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:151] < _delya_ < DEL. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

gwân

adjective. fair

_ adj. _fair, pale.

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:165] < _gwan_ < GWAN pale, fair. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

bain

fair

_ adj. _fair, good, blessed, wholesome, favourable, without evil/bad element, not dangerous, evil or hostile. bân or bain << bân pl. bain. >> bân

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:150] < BAN beauty, with implication that it is due to _lack of fault_ or _blemish_. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

bain

fair

bain (beautiful). Lenited vain. No distinct pl. form.

bain

fair

(beautiful). Lenited vain. No distinct pl. form.

bân

adjective. fair

_ adj. _fair, good, wholesome, favourable, not dangerous, evil or hostile. bân or bain << bân pl. bain. >> bain

Sindarin [(PE17 Sindarin Corpus) PE17:150] < BAN beauty, with implication that it is due to _lack of fault_ or _blemish_. Group: Parma Eldalamberon 17 Sindarin Corpus. Published by

lind

adjective. fair

Derivations

  • LIN “sing, make a musical sound, sing, make a musical sound, [ᴱ√] gentle”

Element in

  • S. Linhir “Fair Stream” ✧ RC/587

Variations

  • lin ✧ RC/587 (lin)

lend

sweet

(tuneful), pl. lind. Note: a homophone means ”way, journey”. No Sindarin adjective describing sweet taste occurs in published material.

melui

sweet

1) (= lovely) melui (lenited velui; no distinct pl. form) (VT42:18). 2) lend (tuneful), pl. lind. Note: a homophone means ”way, journey”. No Sindarin adjective describing sweet taste occurs in published material.

melui

sweet

(lenited velui; no distinct pl. form) (VT42:18).

lend

adjective. tuneful, sweet

Sindarin Group: Eldamo - neologism/adaptations. Published by

liss Speculative

adjective. fragrant, sweet

Cognates

Element in

lend

tuneful

lend (sweet), pl. lind. Note: a homophone means ”way, journey”.

lend

tuneful

(sweet), pl. lind. Note: a homophone means ”way, journey”.

Adûnaic

zîrân

adjective. beloved

An adjective translated “(the) beloved” (SD/247), apparently formed from the verb zîr- “to love, desire” with the participle suffix -ân. Its placement in the sentence Anadûnê zîrân hikalba “Númenor beloved fell (down)” is unusual, since according to Tolkien adjectives normally precede the nouns they modify (SD/428). It is possible that the adjective here is being used as a noun “the beloved”, an idea supported by the translation of this sentence in the final manuscript: “Anadune the beloved she fell” (VT24/12). See the entry for the Adûnaic participle for further discussion.

Element in

Elements

WordGloss
zîr-“*to love, desire”
-ân“participle suffix”

Variations

  • zīrān ✧ SD/247; VT24/12
Adûnaic [SD/247; VT24/12] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Primitive elvish

glis

root. *sweet

lis

root. *sweet, [ᴱ√] sweetness, [ᴹ√] honey

This root was connected to sweet things throughout Tolkien’s life. It appeared as ᴱ√LISI “sweetness” in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with some derivatives of similar meaning as well as others having to do with grace and blessing, such as ᴱQ. lis (list-) “grace, blessing”; Tolkien made it clear that “sweetness” was the root meaning (QL/54-55). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon the “sweetness” words all began with gl- and “grace” words with l-: G. glais “sweetness”, G. glist “sugar” (GL/39) vs. G. list “grace, favour, kindness”, G. lista- “bless” (GL/54). This connection between √LIS and “grace” survived in Tolkien’s later writing, since he used Q. lissë for “grace” in Quenya prayers of the 1950s (VT43/29; VT44/12).

This root appeared as ᴹ√LIS “honey” in The Etymologies of the 1930s, with Noldorin derivatives still beginning with gl-: ᴹQ. lis vs. N. glî “honey” (Ety/LIS). It appeared as √(G)LIS in “Definitive Linguistic Notes” (DLN) from 1959, still serving as the basis for words for honey and sweetness (PE17/154), though some of the Sindarin “sweet” words began with l- in this document, such as: S. laich “sweet” (PE17/148).

Derivatives

  • lissĭ- ✧ PE17/154
    • Q. lissë “sweet” ✧ PE17/154
  • lisyā “sweet” ✧ PE17/148; PE17/154
    • S. laich “sweet” ✧ PE17/148; PE17/154
  • Q. lís “honey, honey, *sugar, sweetener” ✧ PE17/154
  • Q. lissë “grace”
  • ᴺQ. lista- “to sweeten, make sweet”
  • ᴺS. glist “sugar”
  • ᴺS. list “grace, favour, kindness”

Element in

  • Q. miquelis “(soft, sweet) kiss”
  • ᴺS. lista- “to show grace, kindness”

Variations

  • (G)LIS ✧ PE17/148; PE17/154
Primitive elvish [PE17/148; PE17/154; PE17/160] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lisyā

adjective. sweet

Changes

  • leχalisya ✧ PE17/154

Derivations

  • LIS “*sweet, [ᴱ√] sweetness, [ᴹ√] honey” ✧ PE17/148; PE17/154

Derivatives

  • S. laich “sweet” ✧ PE17/148; PE17/154

Variations

  • lisya ✧ PE17/154
  • leχa ✧ PE17/154 (leχa)
Primitive elvish [PE17/148; PE17/154] Group: Eldamo. Published by

wanyā

adjective. fair

Derivations

  • (G)WAN “pale, fair” ✧ WJ/383

Derivatives

  • Q. Vanya “Fair Elves, the Fair” ✧ WJ/380; WJ/383
    • T. Vania “Vanya” ✧ WJ/383

Variations

  • wanjā ✧ WJ/380; WJ/383
Primitive elvish [WJ/380; WJ/383] Group: Eldamo. Published by

bani

adjective. fair

Element in

  • Q. vanië “beauty” ✧ PE17/057
  • Q. vanima “beautiful, fair, beautiful, fair, *handsome; [ᴱQ.] proper, right, as it should be, fair” ✧ PE17/057

Variations

  • vanĭ ✧ PE17/057
Primitive elvish [PE17/057] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Noldorin 

lhend

adjective. tuneful, sweet

Noldorin [Ety/369, X/LH, X/ND1] Group: SINDICT. Published by

lhend

adjective. tuneful, sweet

Cognates

  • Ilk. lind “tuneful, sweet; *singing” ✧ Ety/LIND

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶lindā “sweet sounding” ✧ Ety/LIND
    • ᴹ√LIN “sing” ✧ EtyAC/LIND

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶LINDĀ > lhend[lindā] > [linda] > [lenda] > [lend] > [l̥end]✧ Ety/LIND
Noldorin [Ety/LIND] Group: Eldamo. Published by

glin-

verb. to sing

Cognates

  • ᴹQ. lin- “to sing” ✧ Ety/GLIN

Derivations

  • ᴹ√LIN “sing” ✧ Ety/GLIN

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√GLIN > glin-[glin-]✧ Ety/GLIN
Noldorin [Ety/GLIN] 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!

Qenya 

melda

adjective. beloved, dear, sweet

Cognates

  • N. mell “dear” ✧ Ety/MEL

Derivations

  • ᴹ√MEL “love (as friend)” ✧ Ety/MEL

Element in

  • ᴹQ. talantie “they are holy, blessed, and beloved — save the dark one: he is fallen” ✧ LR/072

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√MEL > melda[melnā] > [meldā] > [melda]✧ Ety/MEL
Qenya [Ety/MEL; EtyAC/MEL; LR/072] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lin-

verb. to sing

Cognates

  • N. glin- “to sing” ✧ Ety/GLIN

Derivations

  • ᴹ√LIN “sing” ✧ Ety/GLIN

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√GLIN > lin-[glin-] > [ɣlin-] > [lin-]✧ Ety/GLIN

Variations

  • lin- ✧ Ety/GLIN (lin-)

vanima

adjective. fair

Derivations

  • ᴹ√BAN “*beauty” ✧ Ety/BAN

Element in

  • ᴹQ. Vanimo “The Beautiful; Fair Folk” ✧ Ety/BAN

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ√BAN > vanima[banima] > [βanima] > [vanima]✧ Ety/BAN

Doriathrin

lind

noun/adjective. tuneful, sweet; *singing

An adjective meaning “tuneful, sweet” developed from primitive ᴹ✶lindā (Ety/LIND, EtyAC/LIND). It is an example of how the usual Ilkorin a-affection was prevented or reverted before [nd], as suggested by Helge Fauskanger (AL-Ilkorin/lind). This word may also have had the sense “✱singing” in the word myrilind “nightingale = ✱night singing”, from primitive ᴹ✶lindē.

Cognates

  • N. lhend “tuneful, sweet” ✧ Ety/LIND

Derivations

  • ᴹ✶lindā “sweet sounding” ✧ Ety/LIND
    • ᴹ√LIN “sing” ✧ EtyAC/LIND
  • ᴹ√LIN “sing” ✧ Ety/TIN

Element in

  • Ilk. myrilind “nightingale” ✧ Ety/TIN

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴹ✶LINDĀ > lind[lindā] > [linda] > [lenda] > [linda] > [lind]✧ Ety/LIND
Doriathrin [Ety/LIND; Ety/TIN] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Gnomish

glis

adjective. sweet

Cognates

  • Eq. líse “sweet” ✧ GL/39

Derivations

  • ᴱ√LISI “sweetness”

gur

adjective. sweet

gûri

adjective. sweet

Cognates

  • Eq. wóre “sweet (to taste only)” ✧ QL/104

Derivations

  • ᴱ√GWORI “‽” ✧ QL/104

Element in

  • G. gurmir “drink of the Valar, *(lit.) sweet wine” ✧ GL/43

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√GWORI > gur[gʷōri] > [gʷūri] > [gūri] > [gūr]✧ QL/104

Variations

  • gur ✧ QL/104
Gnomish [GL/43; QL/104] Group: Eldamo. Published by

garth

adjective. beloved

Derivations

  • ᴱ√GṚÞṚ “*admire, have affection for”

Variations

  • garth² ✧ GL/37

idril

feminine name. Beloved

Cognates

  • Eq. Irilde “Mortal Maiden” ✧ LT2/216; LT2I/Irildë; PE13/099; PE13/103; PE13/104

Derivations

Element in

Gnomish [GG/11; GG/15; GL/50; LT2/216; LT2A/Idril; LT2I/Idril; LT2I/Irildë; PE13/099; PE13/103; PE13/104; PE15/27] Group: Eldamo. Published by

lir-

verb. to sing

Derivations

  • ᴱ√LIÐI “sing” ✧ LT1A/Lindelos

Element in

  • G. lillir “a song, lullaby” ✧ GL/54
Gnomish [GL/39; GL/54; LT1A/Lindelos] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Noldorin

gol-

verb. to sing

Early Noldorin [PE13/145] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Primitive Elvish

suku

root. *sweet

The root ᴱ√SUKU⁽²⁾ appeared unglossed in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s with derivatives like ᴱQ. suksa “sweet” and ᴱQ. sutya- “sweeten, soothe” (QL/87). A parenthetical comment indicated that ᴱ√ÐUKU might be the true root form. There are no signs of this root in Tolkien’s later writing.

Derivatives

  • Eq. sutya- “to sweeten, soothe” ✧ QL/087
  • Eq. suksa “sweet” ✧ QL/087
  • Eq. sutya “sweet” ✧ QL/087

Variations

  • SUKU ✧ QL/087
  • ÐUKU ✧ QL/087 (ÐUKU)
Early Primitive Elvish [QL/087] Group: Eldamo. Published by

Early Quenya

líse

adjective. sweet

Cognates

  • G. glis “sweet” ✧ GL/39

Derivations

  • ᴱ√LISI “sweetness” ✧ QL/054

Element in

  • Eq. lísele “sweetness” ✧ QL/055

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√LISI > līse[līsē] > [līse]✧ QL/054

Variations

  • lîse ✧ GL/39
  • līse ✧ QL/055
Early Quenya [GL/39; QL/055] Group: Eldamo. Published by

suksa

adjective. sweet

Derivations

  • ᴱ√SUKU “*sweet” ✧ QL/087

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√SUKU > suksa[suksā] > [suksa]✧ QL/087
Early Quenya [QL/087] Group: Eldamo. Published by

sutya

adjective. sweet

Derivations

  • ᴱ√SUKU “*sweet” ✧ QL/087

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√SUKU > sutya[sukjā] > [sukja] > [sutja]✧ QL/087
Early Quenya [QL/087] Group: Eldamo. Published by

liri-

verb. to sing

Derivations

  • ᴱ√LIÐI “sing” ✧ QL/054

Element in

Phonetic Developments

DevelopmentStagesSources
ᴱ√LIŘI > liri-[liði-] > [lizi-] > [liri-]✧ QL/054
ᴱ√LIŘI > linde[linðe-] > [linde-]✧ QL/054
Early Quenya [QL/054; VT40/08] Group: Eldamo. Published by