Word: queen Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English quene, queen, cwen, from Old English cwēn (“queen”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwāni, from Proto-Germanic *kwēniz (“wife, 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 Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk 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. Pronunciation: /kwiːn/, [kʰw̥iːn] 1. The wife, consort, or widow of a king. Example: The divorced king was looking for a new queen. Example: The king doth keepe his Reuels here to night. Take heede the Queene come not within his ſight. 2. A female monarch. Example: 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 ſhee might haue done if ſhee would) and yet you count not her for a godly and mercifull Queene. Example: 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 proclaimed Head of the Commonwealth to accommodate India’s lone status as a republic. 3. A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen. Example: […] 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 all woman kinde the Virgin Mary the mother of al bliſſe, what wun her honour, but an humble minde and her paines and loue vnto our Sauiour Chriſt. 4. A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen. Example: Always look after that girl, doc. She's a queen! 5. A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen. Example: But now I was the Lord / Of this faire manſion,maſter of my ſeruants, / Queene ore my ſelfe : and euen now,but now. Example: 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 the same had the film starred someone other than Diana Ross, a reigning queen of pop culture. 6. A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen. Labels: slang Example: 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? Example: When I find my queen, we’re having a whole tribe like our grandparents used to swing it back in the day. 7. A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen. Example: My mother was queen of the St. Patrick's Day parade when she was 19. 8. 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. Example: Thare saw I May, of myrthfull monethis quene. Example: 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 pilgrimage through this temporary world. 9. Referring to one of several items used in tabletop games: Example: 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. Example: 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 alſo, by adding the Number of Moves, which will be neceſſary for you to make a Queen with one of your Pawns: You will, by this Method, find out the exact number of Moves, before you can make a Queen. 10. Referring to one of several items used in tabletop games: Example: There is 5. trumps beside the Queene, yᵉ hindmost yᵘ shalt finde her Example: 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 garbs succinct, a trusty band, /Caps on their heads, and halberds in their hand; / And particolour’d troops, a shining train, / Draw forth to combat on the velvet plain. 11. Referring to one of several items used in tabletop games: Example: Imran was good at carrom. Always after the bright red queen, the centre of attention on the board, he tussled to win it first. 12. A reproductive female insect in a hive, such as an ant, bee, termite or wasp. Example: 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 […] 13. A type of flatfish, specifically the lemon sole. Labels: obsolete 14. A queen apple. Labels: rare 15. A queen scallop. 16. Ellipsis of queen post. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, obsolete Example: Truss framed with King Posts […] Do. with Kings and Queens. 17. A type of large roofing slate. Labels: historical 18. A homosexual man, especially one who is effeminate or flaming. Labels: derogatory, sometimes Example: […] all of these men are lasciviously dressed in womanly attire, short sleeves, low-necked dresses and the usual ball-room decorations and ornaments of women, feathered and ribboned head-dresses, garters, frills, flowers, ruffles, etc., and deport themselves as women. Standing or seated on a pedestal, but accessible to all the rest, is the naked queen (a male), whose phallic member, decorated with a ribbon, is subject to the gaze and osculations in turn, of all the members of this lecherous gang of sexual perverts and phallic fornicators. Example: […] operator Charles Zipf described the "feminine" attire found in Gianelli’s room, reported his description of other "queens," and passed on "Salome's" admission of having had sex with men from the U.S.S. Baltimore. 19. An adult female cat capable of breeding. Example: A few outdoor houses for the queens are used. Example: When your queen has returned from the stud it is always advisable to keep her shut up until all restlessness has left her. 20. Ellipsis of queen olive. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis Example: 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. Nielsen, Agricultural Attaché at Paris. Example: 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 […] 21. Ellipsis of drag queen. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, slang Example: 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. Example: "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." 22. Pertaining to a queen-size bed or queen-size bedding. Labels: US, attributive Example: 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 […] 23. Pertaining to a queen-size bed or queen-size bedding. Labels: US, abbreviation, alt-of, attributive, ellipsis 24. A monarch butterfly (Danaus spp., especially Danaus gilippus).