meles, melessë noun "love" (LT1:262; rather melmë in Tolkien's later Quenya)
Quenya
-më
suffix. abstract noun
meles
love
melmë
love
melmë noun "love" (MEL)
cil-
verb. to choose, select
Cognates
- ᴺS. cil- “to choose, select”
Derivations
- √KIL “choose, select, choose, select; [ᴹ√] divide; [ᴱ√] edge”
-më (2) abstract suffix, as in melmë "love" (cf. the verb mel-), #cilmë "choice" (possibly implying a verb *cil- "to choose"). According to PE17:68, primitive -mē (and -wē) were endings used to derive nouns denoting "a single action", which may fit the meaning of cilmë (but melmë "love" would normally be something lasting rather than "a single action").