queen.
The wife, consort, or widow of a king.
Meaning & usage
The wife, consort, or widow of a king.
The divorced king was looking for a new queen.
A female monarch.
A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen. The Virgin Mary (especially in formulations such as Queen of Heaven, Queen of Glory).
A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen. An excellent woman.
A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen. A woman pre-eminent in a particular group or field.
A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen. An attractive woman; a female partner in a romantic relationship.
A woman whose pre-eminence, power, or forcefulness is comparable to that of a queen. A girl or woman chosen to preside in an honorary or ceremonial manner over a specified festivity or occasion, as May Queen, Homecoming Queen, prom queen, pearly queen.
My mother was queen of the St. Patrick's Day parade when she was 19.
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.
Referring to one of several items used in tabletop games: A chess piece that, under contemporary rules, is the most powerful, able to move any number of spaces horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
Referring to one of several items used in tabletop games: 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.
Referring to one of several items used in tabletop games: A red disk that is the most valuable piece in the Asian game of carom.
A reproductive female insect in a hive, such as an ant, bee, termite or wasp.
A type of flatfish, specifically the lemon sole.
A queen apple.
A queen scallop.
Ellipsis of queen post.
A type of large roofing slate.
A homosexual man, especially one who is effeminate or flaming.
An adult female cat capable of breeding.
Ellipsis of queen olive.
Ellipsis of drag queen.
Pertaining to a queen-size bed or queen-size bedding.
Pertaining to a queen-size bed or queen-size bedding. Ellipsis of queen-size bed or mattress.
A monarch butterfly (Danaus spp., especially Danaus gilippus).
Where this word comes from
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”). 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.
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.
To be the queen bee of a colony.
To provide with a new queen bee.
To sit on a person’s face to receive oral sex, typically while straddling the person’s head.
Where this word comes from
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”). 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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.