In J.R.R. Tolkien’s invented language Quenya, “quen” means “person.”
Quenya is one of Tolkien’s most developed Elvish languages. Its vocabulary and grammar were built with historical relationships in mind, so Tolkien treated it more like a language family’s descendant than a random collection of fantasy words. The name Quenya is related to the idea of speech or language within Tolkien’s linguistic mythology.
The element “quen” appears in compounds and related forms connected with people or speakers. It should not be confused with “quenya,” the name of the language itself, or with “Eldar,” a term for a major group of Elves in Tolkien’s legendarium.
Tolkien’s language construction was a lifelong activity. He drew on Finnish, Welsh, Latin, Greek, and other linguistic sources, but Quenya is not simply Finnish with substituted vocabulary. Its forms changed across drafts and periods, which means that individual words must be interpreted within the version and context in which Tolkien used them.