Name of the “Exterior Void” beyond the world in Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/241), also appearing in The Etymologies as combination of ava “exterior” and kúma “void” (Ety/AWA, OY).
Qenya
kúma
noun. void
avakúma
place name. Exterior Void
A word for “void, darkness”, perhaps first appearing in Ambarkanta from the early 1930s (SM/241). The Etymologies from around 1937 had ᴹQ. kúma “void” under the root ᴹ√KUM of the same meaning (Ety/KUM). It was an element in ᴹQ. Avakúma “Exterior Void”, the darkness surrounding the world (SM/241; Ety/AWA).