meletheldë

noun. love-sister

A word for a close female friend whom one loves deeply appearing in notes from 1959 (NM/20), a combination of √MEL “love” with some form of the root ᴹ√THEL(ES) “sister”, appearing only in its plural form meletheldi. This relationship “included no sexual or procreative desire, though naturally in Incarnates the difference of sex altered the emotion”.

Neo-Quenya: For purposes of Neo-Quenya, I would adapt this word as singular ᴺQ. melesellë [þ] “love-sister” for better compatibility with the 1930s form of the root ᴹ√THEL(ES) where ancient ls became ll, as well as avoiding confusion with Q. seldë “daughter”.

Elements

Word	Gloss
MEL	“love, love, [ᴹ√] love (as friend)”
THEL(ES)	“sister”

melesellë

noun. love-sister