Main Entry: ¹queen

Pronunciation: \ˈkwēn\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English quene, from Old English cwēn woman, wife, queen; akin to Gothic qens wife, Greek gynē woman, Sanskrit jani

Date: before 12th century

1 a : the wife or widow of a king b : the wife or widow of a tribal chief
2 a : a female monarch b : a female chieftain
3 a : a woman eminent in rank, power, or attractions <a movie queen> b : a goddess or a thing personified as female and having supremacy in a specified realm c : an attractive girl or woman; especially : a beauty contest winner
4 : the most privileged piece of each color in a set of chessmen having the power to move in any direction across any number of unoccupied squares
5 : a playing card marked with a stylized figure of a queen
6 : the fertile fully developed female of social bees, ants, and termites whose function is to lay eggs
7 : a mature female cat kept especially for breeding
8 often disparaging : a male homosexual; especially : an effeminate one