queen

¹

[ kween ]

noun

1. a female sovereign or monarch.
2. the wife or consort of a king.
3. a woman, or something personified as a woman, that is foremost or preeminent in any respect:

   a movie queen; a beauty queen; Athens, the queen of the Aegean.

4. 1. Slang: Usually Disparaging and Offensive. a term used to refer to a gay man, especially one who is flamboyantly campy or effeminate.
   2. drag queen.
5. a playing card bearing a picture of a queen.
6. Chess. the most powerful piece of either color, moved across any number of empty squares in any direction.
7. Entomology. a fertile female ant, bee, termite, or wasp.
8. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter Q.

verb (used without object)

1. to reign as queen.
2. to behave in an imperious or pretentious manner (usually followed by it ).
3. Chess. to become promoted to a queen.

Queen

²

[ kween ]

noun

1. Ellery, joint pen name of Manfred Bennington Lee and Frederick Dannay.

queen

¹

/ kwiːn /

noun

1. a female sovereign who is the official ruler or head of state
2. the wife or widow of a king
3. a woman or a thing personified as a woman considered the best or most important of her kind

   a beauty queen

   the queen of ocean liners

4. slang.
   an effeminate male homosexual
5. 1. the only fertile female in a colony of social insects, such as bees, ants, and termites, from the eggs of which the entire colony develops
   2. ( as modifier )

      a queen bee

6. an adult female cat
7. one of four playing cards in a pack, one for each suit, bearing the picture of a queen
8. a chess piece, theoretically the most powerful piece, able to move in a straight line in any direction or diagonally, over any number of squares

verb

1. chess to promote (a pawn) to a queen when it reaches the eighth rank
2. tr to crown as queen
3. informal.
   intr (of a gay man) to flaunt one's homosexuality
4. intr to reign as queen
5. queen it informal.
   often foll by over to behave in an overbearing manner

Queen

²

/ kwiːn /

noun

1. DannayFrederic19051982M LeeManfred B19051971M Ellery (ˈɛlərɪ). pseudonym of Frederic Dannay (1905–82) and Manfred B. Lee (1905–71), US co-authors of detective novels featuring a sleuth also called Ellery Queen

Sensitive Note

The term queen is usually used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting when in reference to a gay man, especially one considered to be effeminate or flamboyant. However, within the gay community, it is sometimes used in a friendly, teasing, or facetious manner, and can also be a positive term of self-reference.

Other Words From

• queen·less adjective
• queen·like adjective
• un·der·queen noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of queen¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English quene, quen, Old English cwēn “woman, queen”; cognate with Old Saxon quān, Old Norse kvān, Gothic qēns, from unattested Germanic kwēni-; akin to Old Irish ben, Greek gynḗ woman, Russian zhená, Sanskrit jani “wife”

Word History and Origins

Origin of queen¹

Old English cwēn; related to Old Saxon quān wife, Old Norse kvæn, Gothic qēns wife

Example Sentences

In a retirement speech in September 2023, Milley — who worries about being recalled to active duty and court-martialed under a new Trump administration, according to Woodward’s latest book, “War” — offered an indirect commentary widely presumed to refer to the former president: “We don’t take an oath to a king or a queen, to a tyrant or dictator, or wannabe dictator.”

From Los Angeles Times

She said they rushed Alfred to A&E and he is now recovering at home after a metal plate was fitted in his jaw at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead.

From BBC

The necklace was previously worn by the Marquess of Anglesey at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953, and it was also worn 16 years earlier at King George VI's crowning.

From BBC

The last queen of France was guillotined in 1793 at the age of 37, along with her husband at the height of the French Revolution.

From BBC

Jeanne de la Motte, a noblewoman fallen on hard times, pretended to be French Queen and tricked a cardinal into giving her the necklace, without paying.

From BBC

Related Words

• monarch
• ruler