lemen, alternative cardinal "five" (VT48:6, 20); the word normally appears as lempë, but compare lemenya below.
Quenya
lep-
verb. to take [with fingers], *pick, pluck
lempë
cardinal. five
lemen
cardinal. five
lemen
cardinal. five
lemnë
cardinal. five
lempë
cardinal. five
lempë cardinal "five" (LEP/LEPEN/LEPEK, GL:53, VT42:24, VT47:10, 24); lempëa ordinal "fifth", an analogical formation replacing older lemenya, in turn altered from the historically "correct" form lepenya because of analogy with the cardinal lempë "five" (VT42:25; Vanyarin Quenya maintained lepenya, VT42:26)
lepsë
noun. *finger
tollë
noun. thumb
The Quenya word for “five” derived from the root √LEPEN via the Quenya syncope and metathesis: ✶lepene > lepne > lenpe > lempe (PE17/95; VT42/24; VT47/10; VT48/6; Ety/LEP).
Conceptual Development: The Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s had ᴱQ. lemin “five” under the early root ᴱ√LEH [LEǶE] “half”, and Q. lempe was “ten” in this 1910s document (QL/52). In the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon, the word lempe was “five” (GL/53). In the Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s (EQG), lemin “five” reappeared and ᴱQ. lempe was “half” (PE14/49, 82, 84). Beginning with The Etymologies of the 1930s the usual Quenya word for “five” was lempe (Ety/LEP), but occasional variants like lemne and lemen continued to appear (PE17/95; VT48/6).