findë (2) noun? (less likely adj.) "cunning" (LT1:253; this "Qenya" word is possibly obsoleted by # 1 above)
Quenya
findë
hair
findë
cunning
findë
noun. hair (especially of the head), tress or plait of hair, hair (especially of the head); tress or plait of hair, [ᴹQ.] braid of hair
A word mentioned by Tolkien in The Shibboleth of Fëanor from 1968 with glosses “hair, especially of the head” (PM/340) and “hair — a tress or plait of hair” (PM/345). The word finde also appeared in Notes on Names (NN) from 1957 with the gloss “tress, lock” alongside a long form Q. findelë of the same meaning (PE17/119). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, it was ᴹQ. finde “tress, braid of hair” under the root ᴹ√SPIN (Ety/SPIN). The root was likewise √SPIN(ID) in the 1957 Notes on Names, but in the 1968 Shibboleth Tolkien used the root form √PHIN.
Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would use findë as a general word for hair (though primarily used for head-hair), also able to refer to a tress, plait or braid of hair, though the word Q. findelë is more specific to that sense. An entire head of hair would be Q. findessë (PM/345), while a single hair would be Q. finë (PE17/17; PM/340). Despite Tolkien’s 1968 change of √SPIN >> √PHIN, I would assume a root form of √SPIN(ID) “hair”, since elsewhere √PHIN usually meant “skill(ful)” (PE17/17, 119, 181; Ety/PHIN).
Cognates
- S. find “tress; single hair, tress, [ON.] lock of hair; [ᴱN.] hair (in general); [S.] single hair” ✧ PM/345
Derivations
- √SPIN(ID) “fine thread, filament; hair” ✧ PE17/119; PM/340
Element in
- ᴺQ. eldafindë “maidenhair fern, (lit.) elf tress”
- Q. finda “having hair, -haired” ✧ PM/340
- Q. Findaráto “*[Golden] Hair Champion”
- Q. Artafindë “*Noble [Golden] Hair”
- Q. Findecáno “*Hair Commander” ✧ PM/345
- Q. findelë “tress, lock [of hair]” ✧ PE17/119
- Q. findessë “head of hair, person’s hair as a whole” ✧ PM/345
- Q. findilë “head of hair”
- ᴺQ. findimaitar “barber, hairdresser”
- ᴺQ. findori “barley”
- Q. Laurefindele “Golden Haired” ✧ PE17/119
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √SPIN-ID > findë [spinde] > [ɸinde] > [finde] ✧ PE17/119 √PHIN > findë [spinde] > [ɸinde] > [finde] ✧ PM/340
finë
hair
finë (1) (stem *fini-, given the primitive form ¤phini) noun "a hair" _(PM:340, PE17:17) or "larch" (SPIN)_
findelë
tress, lock
findelë noun "tress, lock" (PE17:119); apparently a synonym of findë #1, q.v.
finië
cunning
finië noun? "cunning" (LT1:253)
loxë
hair
loxë (1) ("ks")noun "hair" (LOK). In later sources Tolkien uses findë, findessë, findilë for "hair", leaving the conceptual status of loxë uncertain.
findë
findë
The word derives from Common Eldarin phini- ("a single hair") and phindē ("a tress").
finië
noun. cunning
Derivations
- √PHIN “clever, skillful; neat, fine, delicate; skill, dexterity, clever, skillful; neat, fine, delicate; skill, dexterity, [ᴹ√] nimbleness”
findë (1) noun "hair" (especially of the head) (PM:340), "a tress or plait of hair" (PM:345), "tress, braid of hair, lock of hair" (SPIN)