maitë (stem *maiti-, given the primitive form ¤ma3iti) adj. "handed" or "handy, skillful" (VT49:32, 42) in Angamaitë, hyarmaitë, lungumaitë, morimaitë, Telemmaitë, q.v. Etym gives maitë pl. maisi "handy, skilled" (MA3), but Tolkien later eliminated the variation t/s (compare ataformaitë "ambidextrous", pl. ataformaiti).
Quenya
maitë
adjective. handy, skillful; having a hand, handed; shapely, handy, skillful, [ᴹQ.] skilled; [Q.] shapely, well-shaped; (as suffix) having a hand, handed
Cognates
- S. maed “handy, skillful, handy, skillful, [N.] skilled” ✧ VT47/06
Derivations
- ✶magiti “handy, skilled; shapely” ✧ VT41/10
Element in
- Q. Angamaitë “Iron-handed” ✧ PE17/162
- Q. arimaitë “skilful, [supremely] skillful, *gifted” ✧ PE17/162
- Q. atamaitë “two-handed” ✧ PE17/162
- Q. lungumaitë “heavy-handed” ✧ PE17/162
- ᴺQ. maitilë “skill, handicraft; legerdemain, sleight”
- Q. Maitimo “Well-shaped One”
- Q. morimaitë “black-handed” ✧ PE17/110
- Q. Parmaitë “*Book Handy” ✧ UTI/Parmaitë
- Q. Telemmaitë “Silver-handed”
- Q. úmaitë “clumsy(-handed), unskilled” ✧ PE17/162
Elements
Word Gloss má “hand” -itë “adjectival ending; capable of doing, generally (and naturally) doing” Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources ✶magiti- > Maiti- [magiti] > [magite] > [maɣite] > [maite] ✧ VT41/10 Variations
- ~maite ✧ PE17/110; PE17/162
- -maitë ✧ UTI/Parmaitë
- maite ✧ VT47/06
maitë
handed
húmë
cardinal. thousand
húmë (1) numeral "thousand" (PE13:50). Pl. húmi is attested (used in connection with other numbers, as in "two thousand", i.e. "two thousands").
melehta
mighty
melehta adj. "mighty" (PE17:115), cf. meletya
melehta
adjective. mighty
An adjective for “mighty” derived from the root √MBELEK in a page of notes having to do with “large & small” words, probably from the late 1960s (PE17/115), apparently from the primitive form ✱✶mbelektā (with [kt] > [ht]). A variant form meletya appears with the 2nd-plural possessive suffix -lda as Meletyalda “your mighty” in the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 (WJ/369), likely from the primitive form ✱✶mbelekya (with [kj] > [tj]). This variant form has a more typical primitive adjective suffix ✶-ya, but is inconsistent with the attested Sindarin cognate S. belaith, so I’d stick with melehta for purposes of Neo-Quenya.
Cognates
- S. belaith “mighty” ✧ PE17/115
Derivations
Element in
- Q. Aran Meletyalda “king your mighty” ✧ WJ/369
Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources √mbelek > melehta [mbelekta] > [melekta] > [melexta] ✧ PE17/115
meletya
mighty
#meletya adj. "mighty", isolated from meletyalda adjective with suffix "your mighty" = "your majesty" (see -lda; meletya = *"mighty"). In full Aran Meletyalda "king your mighty" = "your majesty" (WJ:369). Compare melehta.
meletya
adjective. mighty
taura
mighty, masterful
taura adj. "mighty, masterful" (TUR, PE17:115), "very mighty, vast, of unmeasured might or size" (VT39:10). Cf. túrëa.
mencë
cardinal. thousand
Cognates
- S. meneg “thousand, thousand, *large in number”
tuxainen
cardinal. thousand
Element in
- ᴺQ. tuxainenëa “thousandth”
Elements
Word Gloss tuxa “hundred; gross, 144”
An adjective for “handy, skilful” in notes on Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals from the late 1960s (VT47/6). ᴹQ. maite had a similar gloss “handy, skilled” in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√MAƷ “hand” (Ety/MAƷ). Tolkien gave its primitive form as ✶magiti in the 1960s (VT41/10) and as ᴹ✶maʒiti in the 1930s (Ety/MAƷ). Either way, it seems to be a combination of Q. má “hand” and the adjective suffix -itë, with a stem form of maiti-.
As a suffix in compounds, it has the sense “handed” as in Q. formaitë “righthanded” (Ety/PHOR) and Q. morimaitë “black-handed” (PE17/110). As prefix, however, it seems to have meant “shapely, well shaped” as in Maitimo “Well-shaped One” (PM/353). It seems likely the same would be true if the adjective were applied to an object, such as maitë macil “a well-shaped [skillfully made] sword”, as opposed to maitë ohtar “a handy/skillful warrior”.
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, ᴱQ. maqa or maqalea meant “handy, skilled (with hands)” while ᴱQ. mavoite (mavoisi-) meant “having hands”, both under the early root ᴱ√MAHA (QL/57). The Early Qenya Grammar of the 1920s Tolkien had ᴱQ. maite “handed” as an element in ᴱQ. erumaite “one handed” (PE14/51, 84; PE16/140). ᴹQ. maite appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s as noted above, but with the abnormal plural form maisi (Ety/MAƷ) that seems to be remnant of Early Qenya phonetic developments from the 1910s.