oy

root. ever, continual, unceasing

This root first appeared as ᴹ√OY “ever, eternal” in The Etymologies of the 1930s (Ety/OY), replacing roots ᴹ√GEY, ᴹ√EY, and ᴹ√ƷEI̯ of similar meaning (Ety/GEY, EY; EtyAC/ƷEI̯). It had derivatives like ᴹQ. oi/N. ui “ever” and ᴹQ. oira/N. uireb “eternal” (Ety/OY). It was an element in the name ᴹQ. Oiolosse “(Mount) Ever White” (LR/209), though when Tolkien first coined this name it was ᴹQ. Ialasse (SM/81), as reflected in Tolkien’s vacillations on the proper form of the root. After settling on √OY, he stuck with it thereafter, and this root and primitive form appeared a number of times in his later writings (PE17/69; Let/278).

Derivatives

• ✶oio “ever”
  • S. ui “ever” ✧ Let/278
• Q. oia(la) “everlasting, unceasing, without end, for ever” ✧ PE17/069
• Q. oialë “forever; everlastingly, eternally, in eternity, forever; everlastingly, eternally, in eternity; [ᴹQ.] everlasting age” ✧ PE17/069
• Q. oi(o) “ever, everlastingly; an endless period, ever, everlastingly; an endless period, *aeon” ✧ PE17/069

Element in

• Q. Oiolossë “Ever (Snow) White” ✧ PE17/069

Variations

• OI̯O ✧ PE17/069; PE17/170

oio

adverb. ever

Derivations

• √OY “ever, continual, unceasing”

Derivatives

• S. ui “ever” ✧ Let/278