/kwiːn/, [kʰw̥iːn]
OriginFrom Middle English quene, queen, cwen, from Old English cwēn (“queen”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwāni, from Proto-Germanic *kwēniz (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷénh₂s (“woman”).
Cognate with Scots queen, wheen (“queen”), Old Saxon quān ("wife"; > Middle Low German quene (“elderly woman”)), Dutch kween (“woman past child-bearing age”), Swedish kvinna (“woman”), Norwegian kvinne (“woman”), Danish kvinde (“woman”), Icelandic kvon (“wife”), Gothic 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃 (qēns, “wife”), Norwegian dialectal kvån (“wife”). Related to and possibly merged with and/or absorbed some senses of English quean, from Middle English quene, from Old English cwene (“woman; female serf, quean”), see quean. Generally eclipsed non-native Middle English regina (“queen”), borrowed from Latin rēgīna (“queen”) (see Modern English Regina). Doublet of quean and gyne.
In reference to insects, by analogy with the obsolete term king, which it took over from starting in the 1600s, when they were discovered to be female.
- The wife, consort, or widow of a king.
“The divorced king was looking for a new queen.”
“The king doth keepe his Reuels here to night. Take heede the Queene come not within his ſight.”
- A female monarch.
“But our mercifull Queene Elizabeth hath not burned the popiſh prieſtes on the alters where they committed idolatrie in ſaying of Maſſe, and worſhipped a piece of breade for the bodie of Chriſte (which”
“In 1952, at the last accession, there were only eight members of the new entity taking shape in the outline of the British Empire. The Queen was the head of state in seven of them, and she was proclai”
- The Virgin Mary (especially in formulations such as Queen of Heaven, Queen of Glory).
“[…] and yet I will not ſay but amongſt duſt there is Pearle found, and in hard rockes Dyamonds of great value, and ſo amongſt many women there are ſome good, as that gracious and glorious Queene of al”
- An excellent woman.
“Always look after that girl, doc. She's a queen!”
- A woman pre-eminent in a particular group or field.
“But now I was the Lord / Of this faire manſion,maſter of my ſeruants, / Queene ore my ſelfe : and euen now,but now.”
“Regardless of what one thinks of that Hollywoodish distortion of her life story, it did stimulate an interest in the late Lady Day, though one might speculate as to whether the effect would have been ”
- slangAn attractive woman; a female partner in a romantic relationship.
“Know you the town is full of folks?
Know you the shows are full of queens?
That every mail is full of jokes
Born of the nation's brightest beans?”
“When I find my queen, we’re having a whole tribe like our grandparents used to swing it back in the day.”
- A girl or woman chosen to preside in an honorary or ceremonial manner over a specified festivity or occasion, as May Queen, Homecoming Queen, prom queen, pearly queen.
“My mother was queen of the St. Patrick's Day parade when she was 19.”
- Something regarded as the greatest of its kind or as having pre-eminence or power comparable to that of a queen over a given area.
“Thare saw I May, of myrthfull monethis quene.”
“The foregoing eleven chapters of criticism were but preludes to an assertion: of theology as itself a social science, and the queen of the sciences for the inhabitants of the altera civitas, on pilgri”
- A chess piece that, under contemporary rules, is the most powerful, able to move any number of spaces horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
“For this cauſe that when he [the pawn] can procede so well in warre, as to arriue at the laſte rancke of hys enemies, he is choſen and made the beſt piece of the playe, to wit, he is the Quene.”
“And, further, let us ſuppoſe, that your King is at Liberty to attack his Pawns upon one Side of the Board, by reckoning how many moves it will take your King to march and take thoſe two Pawns, and alſ”
- A playing card with a depiction of a queen on it, generally ranking next below the king and above the jack in a given suit.
“There is 5. trumps beside the Queene, yᵉ hindmost yᵘ shalt finde her”
“Behold four Kings in majesty rever'd, / With hoary whiskers and a forky beard: / And four fair Queens whose hands sustain a flow'r / Th’ expressive emblem of their softer power; / Four Knaves, in garb”
“Just remember that a nine or ten on the flop may trap you against the early raiser if he’s holding a big pair, or if he catches an ace or king or queen — or even a jack — on a later round.”
- A red disk that is the most valuable piece in the Asian game of carrom.
“Imran was good at carrom. Always after the bright red queen, the centre of attention on the board, he tussled to win it first.”
- A reproductive female insect in a hive, such as an ant, bee, termite or wasp.
“Each time a worker shakes the queen, she grasps the queen with her forelegs and shakes her own body for a second or so, delivering 10 to 20 vigorous shakings of the queen […]”
- obsoleteA type of flatfish, specifically the lemon sole.
- rareA queen apple.
- A queen scallop.
- abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, obsoleteEllipsis of queen post.
“Truss framed with King Posts […] Do. with Kings and Queens.”
- historicalA type of large roofing slate.
- An adult female cat capable of breeding.
“A few outdoor houses for the queens are used.”
“When your queen has returned from the stud it is always advisable to keep her shut up until all restlessness has left her.”
- abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsisEllipsis of queen olive.
“The combined quantity of Queens and Manzanillas to be pickled from the 1935 olive crop in the Seville District of Spain is estimated at 32,500 short tons, according to a report received from N. I. Nie”
“Prices for the two main types of Spanish style green olives - manzanillas and queens - vary according to the size of the crop of each. In some years queens will be more expensive than manzanillas […]”
- abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, slangEllipsis of drag queen.
“Since exposure plays a major role in the success of a queen, even those performers who do not win a Talent Night can obtain bookings by the bar and establish a reputation.”
“"I mean, it's not for everyone. And there's definitely good drag and bad drag. […] But I did learn a lot about myself and what I wanted from my life from some of the queens I used to know."”
- US, attributivePertaining to a queen-size bed or queen-size bedding.
“Ad Hoc Softwares has bright hand-blocked floral cotton bed linens from India, including flat full/queen sheets, were $85, now $51; standard pillowcases, were $18 each, now $10.80 […]”
- A monarch butterfly (Danaus spp., especially Danaus gilippus).
- alt-ofAlternative letter-case form of queen (“consort or widow of a king”).
- alt-ofAlternative letter-case form of queen (“female monarch”).
- A title used before the personal name of a queen.
“Queen Elizabeth II”
“The reminiscences of Princess Mary Louise, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, vividly evoke this continuity of royal women “performing” masculinity, by a page of illustration showing Queens Victoria and”
- radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter Q.
- intransitive, obsoleteTo act the part of a queen; to behave imperiously; to queen it.
- transitiveTo make a queen or (figuratively) to give the status of a queen.
“This dreame of mine / Being now awake, Ile Queene it no inch farther, / But milke my Ewes, and weepe.”
- To promote a pawn to a queen.
“Neither King will be able to stop the opponent's pawns from queening, when the game should be a draw. In such cases, which side queens first, or queens with check, can make a crucial difference. In th”
- To be the queen bee of a colony.
“They have all been queened by imported stock, or the best of home-bred mothers.”
“The nucleus should not be queened by a queen from any of the parent colonies.”
- To provide with a new queen bee.
“In queening his apiary, he aims to keep about half of the queens of the current season's rearing, and the other of the summer preceding.”
“If such a queen is immediately allowed to run through the entrance of a queenless colony, the queening is usually successful.”
“Once you have introduced the queen, the first three steps of the capture have been completed, namely: blocking the tree, providing an alternate home, and queening the colony.”
- slang, transitive, usuallyTo sit on a person’s face to receive oral sex, typically while straddling the person’s head.
“The classic posture, in which you lie on your back while the male serves you, may make him feel arrogant and in charge. Try Queening him. Have him lie on his back while you sit on his face (make sure ”
“She saw his pink tongue flickering on Clare's exposed nympha as she queened him, her love juices shining on his chin and throat[…]”
- alt-ofAlternative letter-case form of queen (“Virgin Mary”).
- In Commonwealth realms, the personification of the Crown, particularly in legal matters.
“Her Majesty the Queen v. John Smith, style of cause of a criminal case.”
- A surname transferred from the nickname, originating as a nickname.
- An unincorporated community in Eddy County, New Mexico, United States, named after the Queen Ranch.
- An unincorporated community in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States.
Formsqueens(plural) · queene(alternative, obsolete) · quene(alternative, obsolete) · queyne(alternative, obsolete) · queens(present, singular, third-person) · queening(participle, present) · queened(participle, past) · queened(past) · Queens(plural)