Q. inga¹, n. “top, highest point”

A word have the same root (√ING) as the name Ingwë, giving a clue to the original meaning of that name. In a few places, the plural Ingar of this word was used as another name for the Vanyar (MR/230, 265), but Tolkien more frequently used the plural Ingwë for this purpose: see Ingwi.

In later writings, this word was generally presented as a noun meaning “top, highest point” (PM/340, VT47/28), but in the Etymologies, ᴹQ. inga was an adjective glossed “first”, as in “foremost” (Ety/ING).

Tolkien stated that “inga ... applied to shapes pointing upward” but also that it “referred primarily to position and could be used of tops relatively broad” (VT47/28). Therefore, inga referred to the highest level whether it was a single point or a plateau.

References ✧ PM/340; VT47/28

Glosses

• “top” ✧ VT47/28.2307
• “top, highest point” ✧ PM/340.2902

Related

• tilma/tile “point” could point in any direction, whereas the word for shapes pointing upward was inga “top” ✧ VT47/28.0906

Element In

• ⇒ Q. aldinga “tree-top” ✧ VT47/28.2704
• ⇒ Q. Ingalaurë “*Top Gold”
• ⇒ Q. ingaran “high-king” ✧ PM/340.3002
• ⇒ Q. ingor “summit of a mountain”
• ⇒ Q. orotinga “mountain-top” ✧ VT47/28.2701

Derivations

• < √ING “first, foremost” ✧ PM/340.1509