...It is a long tale...
I shan't call it the end, till we've cleared up the mess.
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The Etymologies is the third part of The Lost Road and Other Writings. In his preface to that volume, Christopher Tolkien describes The Etymologies as "a kind of historical dictionary", and associates the work with the years 1937-1938, prior to his father's work on The Lord of the Rings.
Synopsis
In The Etymologies, Tolkien provides a series of Elvish linguistic root syllables, or "bases". He then shows how each base evolved into the vocabularies of approximately twelve variations of the Elvish languages, primarily Qenya and Noldorin. Although the derived words were not necessarily in their final forms, as Tolkien's invented languages continued to evolve throughout his life, Christopher Tolkien stated that this document "enormously increases the known vocabularies of the Elvish tongues".
Addenda and corrigenda
In 2003 and 2004, Vinyar Tengwar issues 45 and 46 provided addenda and corrigenda to the original published text of The Etymologies, with previously unknown entries and roots. In 2007, Parma Eldalamberon issue 17 provided even more entries.