A noun in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “blossom, bloom” (GL/54), probably based on the early root ᴱ√LOHO [loχo] (GL/52; QL/55). A form loss appeared next to (etymologically unrelated) G. lôs “flower” that might be a variant of lost (GL/52).
Gnomish
bloss
noun. wheat
loss
noun. blossom, bloom
lost
noun. blossom, bloom
luitha-
verb. to bloom, blossom
A verb in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s glossed “bloom” and “blossom” (GL/55), probably based on the early root ᴱ√LOHO [loχo] (GL/52; QL/55).
teth
noun. bud
lôs
noun. flower
A noun appearing as G. bloss “wheat” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s derived from ᴱ√mol- (GL/23), probably a variant of the early root ᴱ√MULU “grind fine” which had derivatives like ᴱQ. mulma “fine flour” (QL/63). If this derivation is correct, perhaps the original sense of bloss is something like “✱grain to be ground/turned into flour”. The primitive form was probably ✱m’lossǝ where the initial ml became bl.
Neo-Sindarin: The root √MUL is still connected to flour words in Tolkien’s later writings, notably in Q. mulë “meal” in notes from 1968. Thus I think this Gnomish word can be salvaged as ᴺS. bloss “wheat”, but as a direct derivative of √MUL since short u generally became o in Sindarin of the 1950s and 60s.