neldë cardinal "three" (SA:neldor, NÉL-ED, VT47:11, VT48:6). Eleni neldë "three stars", archaic elenion neldë = *"of stars three". Genitive "of 3 stars" = elenion neldë (for archaic elenion neldëo) (VT49:45; see 54 regarding neldion as the gen. pl.) Cf. also nelya, neldëa, Neldië.
Quenya
neldë
cardinal. three, three; [ᴱQ.] four
neldë
cardinal. three
olë
cardinal. three
olë (2) cardinal "three" (LT1:258; in LotR-style Quenya Tolkien replaced this "Qenya" form with neldë)
eleni neldë
*3 stars
elenion neldë
of 3 stars
The Quenya word for “three” derived from √NEL(ED) of the same meaning (VT47/10-11; Ety/NEL).
Conceptual Development: This use of nelde for “three” dates back all the way to Early Qenya Grammar (EQG) of the 1920s (PE14/49, 82). However, in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s ᴱQ. nelde was “four”, appearing under the early root ᴱ√NELE “point” and serving as the basis for the word ᴱQ. neldenelqa “square” (QL/65). In this 1910s document, ᴱQ. ole was “three” derived from the early root ᴱ√OLO “tip” (QL/69).