Mim

Mîm was the last of the Petty-Dwarves. He sheltered Túrin during his outlaw days in his home in Amon Rûdh, since which was named Dar-en-Danwedh (The House of Ransom). He and his remaining son Ibun lived with Túrin and his band of outlaws for a year. In the year 487 of the First Age, Mîm was captured by a tribe of Orcs, to who he betrayed the location of Túrin and his home.

In the year 501, he resettled the halls of Nargothrond which his ancestors had built. Húrin, father of Túrin, later came along a slew the dwarf in revenge of his son. Mîm outlived both of his sons and the Petty-Dwarves died with him.

Mim is an adjective meaning 'affecting a shy or modest manner'; 'demure'; or 'affecting great moderation in eating and drinking'. It is most often applied to flirtatious females. While it does suggest that a person is 'acting' modest, it is not necessarily pejorative.

It first appeared in 1641, and stuck around for a few hundred years before fading to obscurity after the passage of the Victorian era. It may have arisen as an imitation of 'the act of pursing the lips'. It still makes an occasional appearance in modern literature.

On an unrelated note, mim- (also mimo-) is a prefix that arises from the word mime, meaning to mimic.