- 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 chief2 a: a female monarch b: a female chieftain3 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 winner4: 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 squares5: a playing card marked with a stylized figure of a queen6: the fertile fully developed female of social bees, ants, and termites whose function is to lay eggs7: a mature female cat kept especially for breeding8often disparaging : a male homosexual; especially : an effeminate one