arya (1) adj. "excelling", used as the comparative form of mára "good", hence "better" (PE17:57). The superlative ("best") is i arya with the article, with genitive to express *"the best of…" Cf. mára.
Quenya
arya
adjective. excelling, *better, *best [with definite article + genitive], excelling, *better, *best [with definite article + genitive]; [ᴺQ.] *prefer [with dative]
arya
excelling
arya
twelve hours, day
arya (3) noun "twelve hours, day" (AR1; compare aurë). In deleted notes this word was also used as an adjective: "of the day, light" (VT45:6). Still according to VT45:6, arya is also the name of Tengwa #26 in the pre-classical Tengwar system presupposed in the Etymologies, but Tolkien would later call #26 arda instead (indeed arya was changed from arda in the source; Tolkien would later change his mind back again). The abandoned name arya suggests that the letter was to have the value ry (rather than rd as in the classical system outlined in LotR Appendix E). Since the word for "day" (daylight period) is given as aurë in later sources, and arya is assigned other meanings in late material (see #1, 2 above), the conceptual validity of arya "day" is questionable.%
arya-
to excel
arya- (2) vb. "to excel" (PE17:56). Cf. #1 above.
arya-
to possess
[arya- (4) vb. "to possess" (VT45:14)]
Aryantë
daybringer
Aryantë noun "Daybringer" (AR1, ANA1)
arya-
verb. to excel
harya-
possess
harya- vb. "possess" (3AR)
aryata-
verb. to improve
ar-
brightest
ar- (2), also ari-, prefix for superlative (compare arya #1, 2), hence arcalima "brightest", arimelda *"dearest" (PE17:56-57). In the grammar described in the source, this prefix was to express superlative as the highest degree (in actual comparison), whereas the alternative prefix an- rather expressed "very" or "exceedingly" with a more purely augmentative or adverbial force, but these distinctions do not seem to have been clearly present at all stages of Tolkiens work. See an- #2, am- #2.
mára
useful, fit, good
mára adj. "useful, fit, good" (of things) (MAG; see MA3; Arct, VT42:34, VT45:30). Nás mara nin "I like it", literally "it is good to me" (VT49:30; read mára for mara?) As the comparative of mára, the unrelated adjective arya "excelling" is used in the sense of "better"; for the superlative *"best", one adds the article: i arya (with genitive to express "the best of…") (PE17:57),
A word Tolkien said “functions as comparative ... of mára” in Quenya Notes (QN) from 1957, derived from the root √AR “good, excellent, noble”, a root whose precise sense is “good of its kind, excels” (PE17/147). In somewhat later notes, arya was glossed “excelling”, again as a comparative of mára, hence also meaning “✱better” (PE17/57). Tolkien also gave a formula for a superlative “✱best” when used in combination with the definite article i and the genitive, as in i arya atanion “the best of men, (lit.) the [most] excelling of men”.
Neo-Quenya: In a post from 2024-08-14 on the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), Vyacheslav Stepanov suggested arya might express “prefer” when used in combination with the dative, as in nás arya nin “I prefer it, (lit.) it is better for me”, analogous to nás mára nin “I like it, (lit.) it is good for me”.