Primitive elvish
ilū
noun. all, everything, the whole
Derivations
- √IL “all”
Derivatives
Variations
- ilū- ✧ VT39/20
il
root. all
Derivatives
Element in
ilū
noun. all, everything, the whole
Derivations
- √IL “all”
Derivatives
Variations
- ilū- ✧ VT39/20
il
root. all
Derivatives
Element in
A root meaning “all” in Tolkien’s writings from the 1930s through 1960s (VT48/25) with derivatives in both Quenya and Sindarin, the most notable being Q. Ilúvatar “All-father” (MR/39). Its earliest precursor is the root ᴱ√ILU “ether, the slender airs among the stars” from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, whose derivatives include various sky-words as well as ᴱQ. Ilúvatar, since in this early period the name meant “Heavenly Father” (QL/42). The meaning of the root shifted to ᴹ√IL “all” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/IL), and it retained this sense thereafter.