queen

Meaning

Noun

1. The wife, consort, or widow of a king.
2. A female monarch.
3. A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen.
4. A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen.
5. A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen.
6. (slang) A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen.
7. A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen.
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.
9. Referring to one of several items used in tabletop games:
10. Referring to one of several items used in tabletop games:
11. Referring to one of several items used in tabletop games:
12. A reproductive female insect in a hive, such as an ant, bee, termite or wasp.
13. (obsolete) A type of flatfish, specifically the lemon sole.
14. (rare) A queen apple.
15. A queen scallop.
16. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, obsolete) Ellipsis of queen post.
17. (historical) A type of large roofing slate.
18. (derogatory, sometimes) A homosexual man, especially one regarded as effeminate.
19. An adult female cat capable of breeding.
20. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of queen olive.
21. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, slang) Ellipsis of drag queen.
22. (US, attributive) Pertaining to a queen-size bed or queen-size bedding.
23. A monarch butterfly (Danaus spp., especially Danaus gilippus).

Verb

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To act the part of a queen; to behave imperiously; to queen it.
2. (transitive) To make a queen or (figuratively) to give the status of a queen.
3. To promote a pawn to a queen.
4. To be the queen bee of a colony.
5. To provide with a new queen bee.
6. (slang, transitive, usually) To sit on a person’s face to receive oral sex, typically while straddling the person’s head.

Synonyms

empress

female monarch

princess

👸

queen regnant

goddess

fairy

🧚

beautiful girl

pretty maid

belle

lady

monarch

fair maiden

beauty

queer

queen consort

queen bee

poof

fag

faggot

fagot

female

♀️

girl

👧

consort

king

👑

mistress

pansy

gay

sovereign

king’s wife

homosexual

Her Majesty

raver

crown

👑

dam

emperor

homo

invert

nance

nancy

poove

pouf

prince

🤴

tabby

woman

👩

world-beater

queen mole rat

nancy boy

queenlike

queenly

madame

Translations

reine

👸

reina

👸

Königin

👸

regina

👸

koningin

👸

rainha

👸

reina

👸

Dame

dame

regina

👸

βασίλισσα

dama

dame

kraliçe

👸

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kwiːn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: quene

Inherited from Old English: cwēn

Cognate with Scots: queen

Cognate with Old Saxon: quān

Cognate with Middle Low German: -

Cognate with Dutch: kween

Cognate with Swedish: kvinna

Cognate with Norwegian: kvinne

Cognate with Danish: kvinde

Cognate with Icelandic: kvon

Cognate with Gothic: 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃

Cognate with Norwegian: -

Cognate with Middle English: quene

Cognate with Old English: cwene

In summary

From 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.