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Lexicon of NamesCommon name elements in Tolkien's worksThis lexicon lists some of the more common elements found in the names of places and people in Tolkien's work. These are mainly derived from Elvish tongues, but some common forms from other languages, such as Old English or Adûnaic, are also included, as well as a few less recognisable words that are still found in modern English. There are very large number of these name elements, and this page is being expanded to include more over time. Where possible, the particular Elvish source language for an element is shown, but sometimes this is not possible (for example, where a common root word occurs in more than one language). In cases like this, terms are simply labelled 'Elvish root'.
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khazâd
(Khuzdul) 'Dwarves', the name among the Dwarves for their own people. The word appears in the name of their most famous stronghold, Khazad-dûm, which translates as 'mansions of the Dwarves' (and also obliquely in the Elvish name for the same place, Hadhodrond, which transliterates khazâd as hadhod). It also appears in the war-cry 'Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!', meaning 'Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!' Khazâd is a plural form, and the singular equivalent is khuzd (as in Khuzdul, 'Dwarf-tongue').
kheled (Khuzdul) meaning 'glass', this word is only recorded in Kheled-zâram (literally translated 'glass-pool'), the Dwarves' name for the still lake near the Great Gates of Khazad-dûm that mirrored the stars of the Crown of Durin. Though the literal meaning of Kheled-zâram is 'glass-pool', that name is usually translated as the more poetic 'Mirrormere'.
kine
(archaic English) from Old English cȳna, the plural of cū or 'cow'. Kine is therefore an archaic plural form of 'cow', equivalent to 'cattle' or simply 'cows'. The Kine of Araw were enormous wild cattle that lived on the plains of Rhûn. (Araw was the Sindarin form of the name of Oromë, the Huntsman of the Valar, whose name meant approximately 'trumpeter' in reference to his hunting-horn.)
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