Quenya 

pecco Reconstructed

noun. nut

In notes from 1969, Tolkien had a word Q. pekkuvo “nut-hider” = “squirrel” (PE22/155). Since √KUB was “hide” in that document, the element pek- must be “nut”. Its form outside of compounds is unclear; the form pecco is a guess, originally suggested in a conversation on Google+ from 2018: j-teuber.github.io.

Conceptual Development: The only other “nut” words in Tolkien’s publish writings date back to the 1910s, where Tolkien had ᴱQ. kote (kotsi-) “nut” in the Qenya Lexicon and Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa of the 1910s (QL/48), probably derived from a (hypothetical) early root ✱ᴱ√KOTO given G. cod “nut” (GL/26). This early root conflicts with later √KOT that was the basis for ohta “war” and cotto “enemy”.

Cognates

  • ᴺS. pech “nut”

Element in

  • Q. peccuvo “squirrel, (lit.) nut-hider” ✧ PE22/155