Added 3 October 2026
queen
/kwiːn/ noun
In Latin: rēgīna Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about queen at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
verb
- To act the part of a queen; to behave imperiously; to queen it.
- To make a queen or (figuratively) to give the status of a queen.
- To promote a pawn to a queen.
Origin
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”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)