Lake Núrnen is described as having 'dark sad waters' in The Return of the King VI 2, The Land of Shadow. Though this is not unequivocally an interpretation, Tolkien uses 'sad water' as an explicit interpretation in his detailed index to The Lord of the Rings. He does appear, however, to have changed his mind at a later point, instead connecting the name with the Elvish root word meaning 'death'. On this later interpretation, the name would be translated as something like 'dead water' or 'water of death'.
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