Tolkien Encyclopedia > Orcs > Languages > Orcish > Orcish to English > English to Orcish

Orcish to English

updated May 3, 2017
Varda-(Valar)

The top section is a lift from the Orcish word list on the Ardalambion, to which you should go for the true learning of Orcish! More below.

        agh "and"
        ash "one"
        -at infinitive suffix, or possibly a specialized "intentive" suffix indicating purpose: Ash nazg durbatulûk "one Ring to rule them all"
        bagronk (DBS) "cesspool", possibly bag+ronk "cess+pool". (Not from Ardalambion: "torture chamber" or "cesspool". Histories 12 "The Peoples of Middle-earth" Foreword, p.xii.)
        búbhosh (DBS) "great"
        búrz "dark", (isolated from Lugbúrz, q.v.), burzum "darkness"
        dug "filth", tentatively isolated from pushdug, q.v.
        durb- "rule", infinitive durbat, only attested with suffixes: durbatulûk "to rule them all". The verb durb- is remarkably similar to Quenya tur- of similar sense.
        ghâsh "fire" (stated to be derived from the Black Speech, may or may not represent Sauron's original form of the word)
        gimb- "find", infinitive gimbat, only attested with a pronominal suffix: gimbatul, "to find them"
        glob (DBS) "fool"
        gûl "any one of the major invisible servants of Sauron dominated entirely by his will" (A Tolkien Compass p. 172). Translated "wraith(s)" in the compound Nazgûl, "Ringwraith(s)".
        hai "folk", in Uruk-hai "Uruk-folk" and Olog-hai "Troll-folk"; cf. also Oghor-hai.
        ishi "in", a suffixed postposition: burzum-ishi, "in the darkness".
        krimp- "bind", infinitive krimpat, only attested with a pronominal suffix: krimpatul, "to bind them"
        lug "tower". Isolated from Lugbúrz, q.v.
        Lugbúrz the Dark Tower, Sindarin Barad-dûr (Lug-búrz "Tower-dark")
        nazg "ring": ash nazg "one ring", Nazgûl "Ring-wraith(s)"
        Nazgûl "Ring-wraith(s)", nazg + gûl (q.v.)
        Oghor-hai "Drúedain" (UT:379; this may or may not be pure Black Speech)
        olog a variety of Troll apparently developed by Sauron. Olog-hai "Olog-people".
        pushdug (DBS) "dungfilth", possibly push+dug "dung+filth"
        ronk (DBS) "pool", tentatively isolated from bagronk, q.v.
        skai (DBS) interjection of contempt
        sha (DBS) interjection of contempt
        sharkû (DBS?) "old man"
        snaga "slave" (May be DBS.) Used of lesser breeds of Orcs (WJ:390).
        thrak- "bring", infinitive thrakat, only attested with suffixes: thrakatulûk "to bring them all"
        u (DBS) "to"
        -ûk "all", suffixed to pronominal suffixes: -ulûk, "them all"
        -ul pronominal suffix "them".
        -um "-ness" in burzum "darkness".
        uruk a great variety of Orc. According to WJ:390, Sauron probably borrowed this word "from the Elvish tongues of earlier times".

Not direct lift:

        burzum-ishi "in the darkness"
        krimpatul krimp + (-at) + ul.  "to bind" + "them", or "in order to bind them".  (-at) could be "in order to" "purposed to", since u is "to".
        Lugbúrz  lug + bûrz "tower dark" (Sindarin: Barad-dûr "tower-dark")
        Nazgûl nazg + gûl. "Ring" + "wraith". Probably not ûl "them"by usage, so a "g" was dropped to bring them together..
        Oghor-hai refers to the Druedain (see also Mankind)
        Olog-hai "variety of Troll developed by Sauron" + "folk" (see also Trolls under "Newest Variety of Troll")
        Uglûk ûk means "them".  Name of the Uruk-hai captain of the Orcs that abducted Merry and Pippin.
        Uruk-hai Uruk + hai.  "large, strong variety of Orc developed by Saruman" + "folk" (see also Orc Types and Gear)

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