S. #lain n. “thread, warp, ‽twine” (Category: Thread)
An element in the name of the grey elvish rope S. hithlain (LotR/371) which in a note from the late 1960s was glossed “grey thread” and derived from √LAN “stretch, extend; ?twine” (PE17/60). As such, the word lain probably means “thread”. Tolkien later wrote “warp” after hithlain, probably an alternate meaning of lain, likely with the sense of cross-threads as in the “warp and weft” that are part of weaving in a loom.
Reference ✧ PE17/60 ✧ “thread, warp, ‽twine”
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| ‽√LAN > #lain | [lanja] > [lania] > [lenia] > [leni] > [lein] > [lain] | ✧ PE17/60 |