For an earlier discussion, see Klockzo, 4th volume, p. 160 §147: The meaning of Núrnen long remained highly hypothetical. The current definition is based on Christopher Tolkien's index to UT and on the unfinished index of names published in RC. The Gnomish Lexicon listed nur- (nauri) "growl, grumble", nurn "plaint, lament, a complaint" and nurna- "bewail, lament, complain of" (PE/11:61). Likewise, the Qenyaqetsa included a root NURU- with several derivatives with similar meanings (PE/12:68). See also Q. nurrula "mumbling" (from nurru- "murmur, grumble") in the final version of the poem The Last Ark (MC/222-23). Patrick Wynne therefore noted: S. *nûr in Núrnen "Sad Water" is apparently "sad" in the sense "bewailing, lamenting, complaining, grumbling", no doubt a reference to the general mood of the hapless laborers in "the great slave-worked fields" beside the lake. (See Lambengolmor/856-860)
Sindarin
sad
noun. place, spot
sad
noun. limited area naturally or artificially defined, a place, spot
nûr
adjective. sad
dimbar
place name. *Sad Home
An empty land south of Gondolin (S/121), apparently meaning “✱Sad Home”, a combination of dem “sad(ness)” (stem form dimb-) and bâr “home” (SA/bar).
Conceptual Development: The name Dimbar first appeared Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (LR/261), and was given in The Etymologies as an Ilkorin name with the derivation described above (Ety/DEM), though the exact language of word dem is unclear; see that entry for further discussion.
Tolkien continued to used Dimbar in his Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (WJ/57), so he may have intended this Ilkorin name to become Sindarin, though it is also possible he would have eventually would have revised the name to something else.
Dimbar
noun. sad land
dimb (Ilk. “sad, gloomy” [Etym. DEM-]) + (m-)bar (“land, dwelling”)
Núrnen
noun. sad water
#nûr (“sad”) + nen (“water”) #[His.]- the meaning of the first element is “highly hypothetical”.
núrnen
place name. Sad Water, Dead Water
The inland sea in the middle of Mordor. Its final element is clearly nen “water, lake” (SA/nen). The meaning of its initial element is less clear, though it may simply incorporate the name of the region containing the sea: Nurn.
Possible Etymology: In The Lord of the Rings, this sea was described as “the dark sad waters” (LotR/923) and its name was glossed “Sad Water” in Tolkien’s “Unfinished Index” of The Lord of the Rings (RC/457). However, there is no attested Sindarin word nûr with a meaning similar to “sad”.
In Words, Phrases and Passages from the Lord of the Rings (WPP) from the late 1950s or early 1960s, Tolkien translated the name as “Death/dead water” (PE17/87), with its first element derived from √ÑGUR “death”. Elsewhere the Sindarin word for “death” is guru, so maybe Tolkien intended the first element to be from its Quenya cognate [ᴹQ.] nuru. Perhaps the poisoned waters of Mordor made life within Núrnen difficult, like the Dead Sea of Earth.
Hammond and Scull suggested the two concepts could be related, with “sad” being used in the sense “bitter” or “unpalatable”, referring to its poisoned waters (RC/457).
Conceptual Development: This name first appeared on the first draft map of The Lord of the Rings as N. Nurnen with a short u (TI/309). It later appeared with a long u, as N. Nûrnen (WR/127) and N/S. Núrnen (SD/56).
sâd
place
sâd (-had; i hâd, o sâd, construct sad) (spot, limited area naturally or artificially defined), pl. said (i said) (UT:314, VT42:20)
sâd
place
(-had; i hâd, o sâd, construct sad) (spot, limited area naturally or artificially defined), pl. said (i said) (UT:314, VT42:20)
sâd
spot
sâd (-had; i hâd, o sâd, construct sad) (place, limited area naturally or artificially defined), pl. said (i said) (UT:314, VT42:20)
sâd
spot
(-had; i hâd, o sâd, construct sad) (place, limited area naturally or artificially defined), pl. said (i said) (UT:314, VT42:20)
sâd
area
(limited area naturally or artificially defined) sâd (-had; i hâd, o sâd, construct sad) (place, spot), pl. said (i said) (UT:314, VT42:20)
sâd
area
(-had; i hâd, o sâd, construct sad) (place, spot), pl. said (i said) (UT:314, VT42:20)
naer
adjective. sad, lamentable
naer
adjective. dreadful, horrible, unendurable, dreadful, horrible, unendurable; [N.] lamentable, sad
dem
sad
1) dem (gloomy), lenited dhem, pl. dhim; 2) naer (dreadful, lamentable, woeful); no distinct pl. form. 3) nûr (pl. nuir). Note: homophones mean ”deep” and ”race”.
dem
sad
(gloomy), lenited dhem, pl. dhim
naer
sad
(dreadful, lamentable, woeful); no distinct pl. form.
nûr
sad
(pl. nuir). Note: homophones mean ”deep” and ”race”.
dem
adjective. sad, gloomy
nírol
adjective. sad, sorrowing, *sorrowful
gaer
dreadful
1) gaer (awful, fearful; holy); lenited aear; no distinct pl. form. Note: homophones mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "sea". 2) naer (lamentable, woeful, sad); no distinct pl. form.
naer
dreadful
(lamentable, woeful, sad); no distinct pl. form.
daer
adjective. dreadful
_ adj. _dreadful, horrible, ghastly.
goeol
adjective. dreadful, terrifying
naer
adjective. dreadful
_ adj. _dreadful, horrible, unendurable. Q. naira.
caew
resting place
(i gaew, o chaew) (lair). No distinct pl. form except with article (i chaew).
gaer
dreadful
(awful, fearful; holy); lenited ’aear; no distinct pl. form. Note: homophones mean "reddish, copper-coloured, ruddy" and also "sea".
gardh
bounded or defined place
(i ’ardh) (region), pl. gerdh (i ngerdh = i ñerdh);
heltha
strip
(verb) heltha- (i cheltha, i chelthar). (VT46:14; in LR:386 s.v. SKEL the erroneous reading ”helta” appears.)
heltha
strip
(i cheltha, i chelthar). (VT46:14; in LR:386 s.v. SKEL the erroneous reading ”helta” appears.)
land
open space
(construct lan, pl. laind) (level), also used as adjective ”wide, plain”.
pathu
level place
(i bathu) (sward), analogical pl. pethy (i phethy). Cited in archaic form pathw in the source (LR:380 s.v. PATH); hence the coll. pl. is likely pathwath. In the Etymologies as printed in
pêg
small spot
(i bêg, construct peg) (dot), pl. pîg (i phîg)
sant
privately owned place
(i hant, o sant) (field, garden, yard), pl. saint (i saint) (VT42:20)
A word meaning “place, spot” appearing in The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1967-69, more precisely “a limited area naturally or artificially defined” (VT42/19-20). It was derived from √SAT “divide, mark off”.