From Middle English quene, queen, cwen, from Old English cwēn, from Proto-West Germanic *kwāni, from Proto-Germanic *kwēniz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn.

Cognate with Scots queen, wheen ("queen"), osx quān "wife"; > Middle Low German - quene ("elderly woman"), Dutch kween, Swedish kvinna, Norwegian kvinne, Danish kvinde, Icelandic kvon, Gothic 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃, 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, see quean.

• IPA: /kwiːn/, [kʰw̥iːn], enPR: kwēn

queen (plural queens)

1. The wife, consort, or widow of a king.

   The divorced king was looking for a new queen.

   Synonyms: queen consort, Regina

   Hypernyms: royal

   Hyponyms: queen consort, queen dowager

   Holonym: royal family

   Coordinate terms: emperor, empress, king, prince, princess

   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene i] ↗:

     The king doth keepe his Reuels here to night. Take heede the Queene come not within his ſight.

2. A female monarch.

   Synonyms: queen regnant, Regina

   Hypernyms: monarch, royal, sovereign

   Holonym: royal family

   Coordinate terms: emperor, empress, king, prince, princess

3. A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen.

   Synonyms: goddess

   1. (Christianity) The Virgin Mary (especially in formulations such as Queen of Heaven, Queen of Glory).

      Synonyms: advocatrix, Blessed Virgin, Blessed Virgin Mary, Christotokos, lady, Madonna, Mother of God, Mother of Mercy, Our Lady, Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Heaven, Saint Mary, Star of the Sea, Theotokos, Virgin Mary

   2. An excellent woman.
   3. A woman pre-eminent in a particular group or field.
      • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene ii], page 175 ↗:

        But now I was the Lord
        Of this faire manſion,maſter of my ſeruants,
        Queene ore my ſelfe : and euen now,but now.

   4. (slang, originally, US) An attractive woman; a female partner in a romantic relationship.

      Synonyms: honey

4. 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.
5. Queens () of all four suits in the English pattern

   A carrom board with the red queen () in the centre
   Referring to one of several items used in tabletop games:
   1. A chess piece that, under contemporary rules, is the most powerful, able to move any number of spaces horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

      Synonyms: bitch, dame, lady, old lady, whore

      Hypernyms: chess piece, chessman

      Holonym: chess set

      Coordinate terms: bishop, castle, king, knight, pawn, rook

   2. 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.

      Synonyms: bitch, cowgirl, girl, lady, mop squeezer

      Hypernyms: court card, face card

      Hyponym: Queen Bess

      Holonyms: deck of cards, pack of cards

      Coordinate terms: jack, king, knave

   3. A red disk that is the most valuable piece in the Asian game of carrom.
6. A reproductive female insect in a hive, such as an ant, bee, termite or wasp.

   Synonyms: king

   Hypernyms: bug, insect

   Hyponym: queen bee

7. (obsolete) A type of flatfish, specifically the lemon sole.
8. (rare) A queen apple.

   Hypernyms: apple

9. (originally, UK) A queen scallop.
10. (construction, obsolete) Ellipsis of queen post

    Coordinate term: king

11. (now, chiefly, historical) A type of large roofing slate.
12. (slang, sometimes, derogatory) A homosexual man, especially one regarded as effeminate.

    Synonyms: fag, faggot, fairy, fruit, Mary, nancy, Nancy Dawson, nancyboy, nelly, pansy, ponce, poof, poofter, shirtlifter, twink, Thesaurus:effeminate man, Thesaurus:male homosexual

    Hypernyms: gay

13. An adult female cat capable of breeding.

    Hypernyms: cat

    Coordinate terms: tom, tomcat

14. Ellipsis of queen olive
15. (LGBT, slang) Ellipsis of drag queen
16. (attributive, originally, North American) Pertaining to a queen-size bed or queen-size bedding.

    Synonyms: queen-size, queen-sized

17. A monarch butterfly (Danaus spp., especially Danaus gilippus).

• French: reine
• German: Königin
• Italian: regina
• Portuguese: rainha
• Russian: короле́ва
• Spanish: reina

• French: reine
• German: Königin
• Portuguese: rainha
• Russian: короле́ва
• Spanish: reina

• French: dame
• German: Dame
• Italian: regina
• Portuguese: dama, rainha
• Russian: ферзь
• Spanish: reina, dama

• French: reine, dame
• German: Dame
• Italian: regina, donna
• Portuguese: dama
• Russian: да́ма
• Spanish: reina

• Portuguese: soberana
• Russian: короле́ва
• Spanish: reina

• French: folle
• German: Tunte
• Italian: checca
• Portuguese: bicha, veado
• Spanish: loca, reinona

• French: reine
• German: Königin
• Italian: ape regina
• Portuguese: rainha
• Russian: ма́тка
• Spanish: reina

• French: chatte
• German: Kätzin
• Italian: gatta
• Portuguese: gata
• Spanish: gata

queen (queens, present participle queening; simple past and past participle queened)

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.
   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene iv], page 295 ↗, column 1:

     This dreame of mine / Being now awake, Ile Queene it no inch farther, / But milke my Ewes, and weepe.

3. (chess) To promote a pawn to a queen.
4. (beekeeping) To be the queen bee of a colony.
5. (beekeeping) To provide with a new queen bee.

   Antonyms: dequeen

6. (BDSM, slang, transitive, usually, of a woman) To sit on a person’s face to receive oral sex, typically while straddling the person’s head.

   Synonyms: face-sit, king

• queen out

• Italian: incoronare
• Portuguese: coroar (rainha)

• French: promouvoir, mener à dame
• Portuguese: promover
• Russian: провести в ферзи
• Spanish: coronar

queen (plural queens)

1. Alternative case form of queen.
2. Alternative case form of queen.
3. A title used before the personal name of a queen.

   Queen Elizabeth II

4. (World War II era, joint US/RAF) radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter Q.

   Synonyms: Quebec

1. Alternative case form of queen.
2. 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.

   Synonyms: Regina

3. Surname, originating as a nickname.
4. An unincorporated community in Eddy County, New Mexico, named after the Queen Ranch.
5. An unincorporated community in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.