Last updated: 10/01/2026

Neo Sindarin - Word lists

Swadesh list

A Swadesh list is a compilation of forms and concepts which all languages, without exception, have terms for, such as star, hand, water, kill, sleep, and so forth. The number of such terms is small – a few hundred at most, or possibly less than a hundred. The inclusion or exclusion of many terms is up to debate and there are several different lists. The Swadesh list is named after linguist Morris Swadesh. Read more about it on Wikipedia.

I have compiled a Swadesh 207 list for Neo-Sindarin. Not all words are exactly what it seems, and there are multiple candidates for several of these. All of them are linked to Eldamo or explained as appropriate.

Neo-Sindarin Swadesh 207 list

Index	English	Sindarin	Alternative 1	Alternative 2	Notes
1	I	-n	ni
2	you (singular)	-g	ci
3	he	-	te
4	we	-f	me
5	you (plural)	-gir	le
6	they	-r	ti
7	this	se
8	that	sa	san
9	here	sí
10	there	ennas
11	who	ma
12	what	man
13	where	mivan
14	when	mallú
15	how	movan
16	not	û-
17	all	pân	il
18	many	laew	lae
19	some	nodui
20	few	tithen	nodui		Means "little"
21	other	egel	egol
22	one	min	er
23	two	tâd
24	three	neledh
25	four	canad
26	five	leben
27	big	daer	borg
28	long	and
29	wide	land
30	thick	tûg	delch
31	heavy	lung	lhong	grond
32	small	pîn	tithen
33	short	thent
34	narrow	agor
35	thin	fim
36	woman	adaneth	gwend	-il
37	man (adult male)	dîr	benn
38	man (human being)	Adan
39	child	hên
40	wife	bess	bethril
41	husband	hervenn	bethron
42	mother	emel
43	father	adar
44	animal	lavan
45	fish	lim
46	bird	aew
47	dog	huan	huil	huar
48	louse	gwef
49	snake	lŷg
50	worm	gwem	leweg
51	tree	galadh	orn
52	forest	taur	eryn	glad
53	stick	golf	grond
54	fruit	iâf
55	seed	eredh
56	leaf	las(s)
57	root	thond
58	bark (of a tree)	rîf
59	flower	loth	elloth	lotheg
60	grass	glae	thâr	ness
61	rope	raph	hithlain
62	skin	flâd
63	meat	aes	rhaw
64	blood	sereg
65	bone	asg	ach
66	fat (noun)	thalph	blê
67	egg	och
68	horn	ras(s)
69	tail	pimp
70	feather	laud	pess
71	hair	fîn	find	finnel
72	head	dol(l)
73	ear	lheweg	lhaw
74	eye	hen(d)
75	nose	nem	sunt	bund
76	mouth	gobem
77	tooth	neleg	nêl
78	tongue (organ)	lam
79	fingernail	nelew			Suggested by Rínor based on nyelekmā > √NYELEK (same root as Quenya "nyelet")
80	foot	tâl
81	leg	teleg
82	knee	ogod
83	hand	mâb	maw	cam
84	wing	raw
85	belly	cum
86	guts	irdh
87	neck	ach	lang
88	back	galf
89	breast	tith	ammos
90	heart	hûn
91	liver	rôn
92	to drink	sog-
93	to eat	mad-
94	to bite	nag-
95	to suck	lavra-
96	to spit	puia-
97	to vomit	hich-
98	to blow	súda-
99	to breathe	thuia-
100	to laugh	lala-
101	to see	cen-
102	to hear	lhassa-
103	to know	ista-
104	to think	geria-	nautha-
105	to smell	nuicha-
106	to fear	gosta-	tossui-	"groga-", "thossa-", "thosta-"	1) to fear excessively, 2) adjetive, 3) all based on √TᴴOS
107	to sleep	lor-	lortha-
108	to live	cuia-
109	to die	fir-	gwanna-
110	to kill	dag-
111	to fight	maetha-
112	to hunt	fara-
113	to hit	dringa-
114	to cut	rista-
115	to split	thaetha-
116	to stab	eitha-			To prick, to poke with a sharp point
117	to scratch	gratha-
118	to dig	sab-
119	to swim	loda-			To float (like a boat)
120	to fly	gwil-
121	to walk	padra-
122	to come	tol-
123	to lie (as in a bed)	caeda-
124	to sit	hadh-	hadhwa-
125	to stand	tar-
126	to turn (intransitive)	drinna-	perna-		Sense of twist
127	to fall	danna-
128	to give	anna-
129	to hold	gar-	manga-	ranga-
130	to squeeze	gweltha-
131	to rub	run-	gratha-
132	to wash	whal-
133	to wipe	whegra-
134	to pull	thag-
135	to push	nista-
136	to throw	had-
137	to tie	nod-
138	to sew	ther-
139	to count	genedia-
140	to say	ped-
141	to sing	linna-
142	to play	telia-
143	to float	loda-
144	to flow	siria-	ethiria-
145	to freeze	hel-
146	to swell	tuia-	beltha-		a) Also to spring, b) ~ billow
147	sun	Anor
148	moon	Ithil
149	star	gil
150	water	nen
151	rain	ross
152	river	duin	sîr
153	lake	nen	ael
154	sea	gaear
155	salt	sing
156	stone	gond	sarn
157	sand	lith			Word for ashes, "sand" is secondary
158	dust	ast
159	earth	ceven
160	cloud	fân
161	fog	hîth	hithu
162	sky	menel
163	wind	gwae
164	snow	loss
165	ice	heleg
166	smoke	osp	fanu
167	fire	naur
168	ash	lith
169	to burn	orna
170	road	bâd	men
171	mountain	amon	tund
172	red	caran
173	green	calen
174	yellow	malen
175	white	nim
176	black	morn
177	night	fuin
178	day	aur
179	year	coranor	lóran
180	warm	laug
181	cold	ring	oel
182	full	pant
183	new	sain	laew
184	old	iaur	ifant
185	good	maer	mae
186	bad	faeg	oer
187	rotten	thaw
188	dirty	gwaur	mael	gwaen
189	straight	taer
190	round	rend	corn
191	sharp (as a knife)	crisg	maeg
192	dull (as a knife)	alvaeg, úmaeg			Not sharp
193	smooth	path
194	wet	limp	nîd	nîn
195	dry	parch
196	correct	tîr			Straight
197	near	sí	nef
198	far	hae	palan
199	right	fuir
200	left	hair
201	at	na
202	in	mi
203	with	na
204	and	a
205	if	pi
206	because	añ gaeth i			Expression (the exact syntax is debated)
207	name	eneth

Silmarillion list

Given that Sindarin is a language from a different universe, and thus the Swadesh list wouldn't contain names of other races and concepts frequently used in Middle-earth, I have also checked the most common words in the Silmarillion, bar the common language terms, then removed some proper names, Sindarin words and repeated Swadesh words and put the top 100 in the table below, in alphabetical order.

Neo-Sindarin Top-100 Silmarillion words list

English	Sindarin	Alternative 1	Alternative 2	Notes
age	andrann
aid	gresta-	ethia-	grest
ainu	Aenu	Aeni		1) masculine; 2) feminine
away	gwa-	gwachae	palan	1) prefix; 2) "far away"; 3) "afar"
battle	oeth			Popular ᴺS variant of "auth"
begin, to	iesta
behind	adel
beneath	di
beyond	athar			Misread as "athan"
bring, to	tog-	toltha-		2) "to fetch"
call, to	esta-			"to name"
city	ost	caras	gobel
counsel	goras			advice
dark	morn
darkness	fuin
daughter	sell
death	gurth [ng-]
deed	carth
deep	nûr
doom	amarth
draw, to	teitha-	emma-		"to write"
dwarf	nogoth	hadhod
dwell, to	dortha- [nd-]
east	rhûn
elf	edhel
end	methed
evil	oglas
fair	bain
fill, to	pannad-
flee, to	drega-
form, to	echad-
forth	ed			prep. and pref "out of"
go, to	men-	gwae-
great	beleg	daer		1) mighty
grow, to	gala-
hall	tham
hidden	dolen	thurin
high	taer
hill	amon
host	rim
hour	oreth
house	bâr [mb-]
kin	noss
king	aran
land	dôr [nd-]
lay, to	caeda-
life	cuithas
light	calad
like	be
little	pîn
look, to	cen-
lord	hîr
love	meleth
man (person)	pen
middle	enaidh
mighty	beleg
mind	gûr	ind		1) "heart" (inner mind); 2) "purpose or intention"
music	linnas
name, to	esta-			"to call, to name"
noldo	golodh [ng-]
north	forod
old	iaur
orc	glamog	orch
pass, to	hída-
people	gwaith
place	sad
power	polodh
realm	arthor
remain, to	dartha-
return, to	dammen- [nd-]
ring	corf
save (except)	eb
search, to	cesta-
second (numeric)	tadui
secret	thurin
send, to	menna-
shadow	gwath
ship	cair
shore	falas	ras(t)
slay, to	dag- [nd-]
son	ionn
song	lind
south	harad
speak, to	ped-
strength	balt	bellas	tû	1) "might"; 2) "physical strength"; 3) "vigour"
strong	belt
sword	megil
take, to	nab-
teler (Q)	teler (S)
tell, to	ped-			Same as "to say"
thing	nad
thought	nauth	naw	inc	2) "idea"; 3) "notion"
time	lû
vala	rodon
war	auth
way	leng
west	dûn [nd-]
wife	bess
woods	eryn
world	ardhon

Words for languages

"Sindarin" is a Quenya word. And "Quenya" is also a Quenya word. So what's Sindarin for "Sindarin" and for "Quenya"?

Sindarin has the word Edhellen, meaning "elvish", which was used by the Sindar to refer to their own language before the Noldor returned to Middle-earth, because they were the only Elves in Beleriand.

The word in Sindarin that translates to the same meaning as the word "Sindarin" itself would be Thindren, but that would be a term given to the language by the Noldor after they started to speak Sindarin.

There is one actually attested Sindarin autoglossonym: Eglathrin (PE18/77), meaning the language of the forsaken. That may be updated as Eglathren or possibly Egladhren. The name Eglain, originally being the autonym of all the Sindar, later became restricted to the Falathrim, however, so that should be considered.

When the Noldor returned, one word that the Sindar might use to refer to their language is Golodhren, which translates to "Noldorin".

One other attested word is Golodhbaeth (PE17:126), "speech of the Noldor".