A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s, cognate of ᴹQ. nat “thing” and derived from the root ᴹ√NĀ “to be” (Ety/NĀ²).
Conceptual Development: The word G. nad appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s along side a variant nân, but neither form was translated (GL/59). Earlier in the lexicon there was G. nath “thing, affair, matter” (GL/58) clearly based on the early root ᴱ√NĀ “be, exist” and cognate to ᴱQ. nat (natt-) “thing” (QL/64). In Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s, ᴱN. nad was glossed “thing” (PE13/150).
A noun for “life” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√KUY “come to life, awake” (Ety/KUY).
Conceptual Development: This word dates back to the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, where Tolkien clarified that G. cuil “life” was “usually [the] quality of being alive, but [was] also used = lifetime” (GL/27). ᴱN. cuil “life” also appeared in Early Noldorin Word-lists of the 1920s (PE13/141).