N. †silif n. “light of Silpion, †silver” (Category: Moon)
A word in The Etymologies of the 1930s derived from primitive ᴹ✶silimē glossed “light of Silpion, †silver” (Ety/SIL). Since Silpion was the silver tree of Valinor whose flower was used to create the moon, perhaps this can also mean “*moonlight”; its Quenya cognate ᴹQ. silme was glossed “moonlight” in the 1930s and 40s as a tengwar name (PE22/22, 51), though in The Lord of the Rings Appendix E, Q. silmë was “starlight” (LotR/1123). The Noldorin form silif was marked with a “*” and so perhaps may be archaic; Tolkien said “For *silif N has silith, by assimilation to or from influence of †Ithil” (Ety/SIL).
Reference ✧ Ety/SIL ✧ “light of Silpion, †silver”
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| ᴹ✶silimē > silif | [silimē] > [silime] > [silim] > [siliv] | ✧ Ety/SIL |