queen

queen
\ \ [OE] Queen goes back ultimately to prehistoric Indo-European *gwen- ‘woman’, source also of Greek guné ‘woman’ (from which English gets gynaecology), Persian zan ‘woman’ (from which English gets zenana ‘harem’), Swedish kvinna ‘woman’, and the now obsolete English quean ‘woman’. In its very earliest use in Old English queen (or cwēn, as it then was) was used for a ‘wife’, but not just any wife: it denoted the wife of a man of particular distinction, and usually a king. It was not long before it became institutionalized as ‘king’s wife’, and hence ‘woman ruling in her own right’.
\ \ Cf.⇒ GYNAECOLOGY, QUEAN, ZENANA

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Queen — Queen, n. [OE. quen, quene, queen, quean, AS. cw[=e]n wife, queen, woman; akin to OS. qu[=a]n wife, woman, Icel. kv[=a]n wife, queen, Goth. q[=e]ns. [root]221. See {Quean}.] 1. The wife of a king. [1913 Webster] 2. A woman who is the sovereign of …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Queen II — Album par Queen Sortie 8 mars 1974 (UK) 9 avril 1974 (US) Enregistrement Août 1973 aux Studios Trident, Londres Durée 40:50 G …   Wikipédia en Français

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  • queen — (kwēn) n. 1. a) The wife or widow of a king. b) A woman sovereign. 2. a) A woman considered preeminent in a particular field: »the reigning queen of hip hop. b) A woman chosen as the winner o …   Word Histories

  • queen — (n.) O.E. cwen queen, female ruler of a state, woman, wife, from P.Gmc. *kwoeniz, ablaut variant of *kwenon (source of QUEAN (Cf. quean)), from PIE *gwen woman, wife supposedly originally honored woman (Cf. Greek gyné a woman, a wife; Gaelic bean …   Etymology dictionary

  • queen — [kwēn] n. [ME quen < OE cwen: see QUEAN] 1. the wife of a king 2. a woman who rules over a monarchy in her own right; female sovereign 3. a woman foremost or judged to be foremost among others in certain attributes or accomplishments, as… …   English World dictionary

  • queen|ly — «KWEEN lee», adjective, li|er, li|est, adverb. –adj. 1. of a queen; fit for a queen: »queenly rank or majesty. 2. like a queen; like a queen s: »a queenly bearing or presence, queenly dignity. You are a queenly creature, not to be treated as any… …   Useful english dictionary

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