niquis noun "frost-patterns; ice-flake or snowflake also petal (loose) of a white flower" (stem niquits- or niquiss-), also niquessë by association with quessë "feather" (WJ:417, PE17:168). In early "Qenya", the gloss was simply "snow" (LT1:266).
Quenya
niquessë
noun. frost-patterns; snowflake, ice-flake; (lit.) chill feather
Elements
Word Gloss nixë “frost; ice-flake or snow-flake” quessë “feather” Variations
- niquesse ✧ PE17/168; PE17/168; WJ/417
niquis
frost-patterns; ice-flake or snowflake also petal (loose) of a white flower
A noun literally meaning “chill feather”, but variously used for “frost-patterns” (WJ/417) or “snowflake, ice-flake” (PE17/168). It originated as a variant of niquis (niquiss-) where the second element was modified by association with quessë “feather”.