n.Bot. a pale white flower (like snowdrop). >> -il, niphred, til
Sindarin
niphredil
noun. white flower (similar to a snowdrop); *(lit.) pale point
Elements
Word Gloss niphred “pallor, pallor; [N.] fear” till “point, spike, (sharp) horn, tine, ending” Variations
- Niphredil ✧ LotRI/Niphredil
niphredil
noun. a pale winter flower, snowdrop
niphredil
a pale white flower
niphredil
Niphredil
Niphredil is a Sindarin name meaning "little pallor", consisting of niphred ("pallor") + the ending -il.
nínim
snowdrop
(”white tear”), no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. nínimmath. – The niphredil seems to be a flower similar to the snowdrop (no distinct pl. form; coll. pl. niphrediliath)
edlothia
flower
(verb) #edlothia- (i edlothia, in edlothiar) (to blossom);
loth
flower
loth, pl. lyth (but loth is also glossed ”blossom” and may itself function as a collective term: all the flowers of a plant. For individual flowers cf. the following:)
alf
noun. flower
Cognates
- Q. alma “flower” ✧ PE17/153
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √GAL-AB > alf [alba] > [alva] > [alv] ✧ PE17/153
elanor
noun. a flower, a kind of enlarged pimpernel bearing golden and silver flowers
elloth
noun. (single) flower
los
noun. snow
loss
noun. snow
The usual Sindarin word for “snow” (Let/278; PE17/161; RGEO/62), especially fallen and long-lying snow (VT42/18), derived from primitive ✶lossē (PE17/161) based on the root √(G)LOS (PE17/26; RGEO/62). It sometimes appeared in a shorter form los (PE17/26, 161). See the entry on [s] for a discussion of these long vs. short variations; for purposes of Neo-Sindarin loss is probably preferable.
Conceptual Development: Perhaps the earliest iteration of this word was G. glui “snow” from the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, likely related to nearby words like G. gloss “white” (GL/40). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, N. gloss from the root ᴹ√GOLOS was both noun “snow” and adjective “snow-white” (Ety/GOLÓS), but in later writing Tolkien split these into S loss “snow” (see above) and S. gloss “(dazzling) white” (RGEO/62; VT42/18).
Cognates
- Q. lossë “snow, fallen snow; snow-white, snowy” ✧ PE17/026; PE17/161; SA/los; RGEO/61
Derivations
Element in
- S. Aeglos “Snow-point” ✧ SA/los
- S. aeglos “icicle, (lit.) snow-point; snowthorn (a plant)”
- S. Amon Uilos “Hill of Ever-snow” ✧ SA/los
- S. Fanuilos “Bright (Angelic) Figure upon Uilos” ✧ Let/278
- S. Lossarnach “Flowery Arnarch” ✧ VT42/18
- S. lossen “snowy” ✧ RGEO/62
- S. Lossoth “Snowmen” ✧ PE17/161; RGEO/62
- S. Nimphelos “Pale ?Snow”
- S. Uilos “Ever-snow”
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √LŎS > los [lossē] > [losse] > [loss] ✧ PE17/026 ✶lossē > loss [lossē] > [losse] > [loss] ✧ PE17/161 √los > loss [lossē] > [losse] > [loss] ✧ RGEO/61 √los > loss [lossē] > [losse] > [loss] ✧ SA/los √(G)LOS > loss [lossē] > [losse] > [loss] ✧ VT42/18 Variations
- los ✧ PE17/026
- lŏs ✧ PE17/161
- Loss ✧ VT42/18
loth
noun. flower, inflorescence, a head of small flowers
The noun is collective, a single flower being lotheg
loth
noun. flower
_n._flower, a single bloom. Q. lóte, lōs.
lotheg
noun. (single) flower
mallos
noun. a golden flower
ninglor
noun. golden water-flower, gladden
edlothia
flower
(i edlothia, in edlothiar) (to blossom);
edlothiad
flowering
(blossoming), pl. edlothiaid if there is a pl.**
gloss
white as snow, dazzling white
(in compounds -los), lenited ’loss; pl. glyss.
gwaloth
collection of flowers
(i ’waloth) (blossom), pl. gwelyth (in gwelyth). Also goloth (i ’oloth) (blossom), pl. gelyth (i ngelyth = i ñelyth). Archaic pl. gölyth. (VT42:18). Specific flowers, see
loss
snow
(construct los; pl. lyss if there is a pl.) (RGEO:61-62, Letters:278, VT42:18) (Note: homophones mean ”flower” [more commonly loth] and ”wilderness”.).
lossen
snowy
(pl. lessin, for archaic lössin). Adj.
lossoth
snow-men
(a coll. pl.)
loth
flower
pl. lyth (but loth is also glossed ”blossom” and may itself function as a collective term: all the flowers of a plant. For individual flowers cf. the following:)
lotheg
single flower
lothod (”singulars” derived from the more collective term loth; it is unclear whether lotheg, lothod can themselves have ”plural” forms. If so it would be lethig, lethyd, for archaic löthig, löthyd.) (VT42:18, VT45:29) Another word for a single flower is elloth (pl. ellyth) (VT42:18). An alternative to loth is loss (construct los; pl. lyss), but the form loth seems to be more common (and loss also means ”fallen snow” and ”wilderness”).
Name of a pale flower growing in Lórien and elsewhere (LotR/350). Tolkien described it as “a pale white flower (like snowdrop)” or “a delicate kin of a snowdrop” (PE17/55; Let/248). It is a combination of niphred “pallor” and -til “point” (PE17/55).
Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts of the 1940s Tolkien first gave N. nifredil as the name of “a green snowdrop” (TI/233). In The Etymologies of the 1930s, Tolkien gave N. nínim “snowdrop” under the root ᴹ√NEI̯ “tear”, but nifredil was written beside it, perhaps a later addition (Ety/NEI). The first element of nínim is N. nîn “tear”, and the second element might be N. nimp “pale” from ᴹ√NIK-W (Ety/NIK-W); see below.
In the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s Tolkien had G. ninconin “snowdrop” with ninghonin written below it, possible an alternate form (G/60). This earlier word was derived from primitive ᴱ✶ninqe-nı̯ēne and was a cognate to ᴱQ. nieninqe “snowdrop, (lit.) white tear” containing ᴱQ. nie “tear” under the early root ᴱ√NYEHE and ᴱQ. ninqe “white” under the early root ᴱ√NIQI (QL/66, 68). Thus 1910s G. ninconin was similar in origin to 1930s N. nínim before Tolkien changed it to nifredil.