Antonyms for queen


Grammar : Noun
Spell : kween
Phonetic Transcription : kwin


Definition of queen

Origin :
  • Old English cwen "queen, female ruler of a state, woman, wife," from Proto-Germanic *kwoeniz (cf. Old Saxon quan "wife," Old Norse kvaen, Gothic quens), ablaut variant of *kwenon (source of quean), from PIE *gwen- "woman, wife" supposedly originally "honored woman" (cf. Greek gyné "a woman, a wife;" Gaelic bean "woman;" Sanskrit janis "a woman," gná "wife of a god, a goddess;" Avestan jainish "wife;" Armenian kin "woman;" Old Church Slavonic zena, Old Prussian genna "woman;" Gothic qino "a woman, wife; qéns "a queen").
  • The original sense seems to have been "wife," specialized by Old English to "wife of a king." In Old Norse, still mostly of a wife generally, e.g. kvan-fang "marriage, taking of a wife," kvanlauss "unmarried, widowed," kvan-riki "the domineering of a wife." English is one of the few Indo-European languages to have a word for "queen" that is not a feminine derivative of a word for "king." The others are Scandinavian: Old Norse drottning, Danish dronning, Swedish drottning "queen," in Old Norse also "mistress," but these also are held to be ultimately from male words, e.g. Old Norse drottinn "master."
  • Used of chess piece from mid-15c. (as a verb in chess, in reference to a pawn that has reached the last rank, from 1789), of playing card from 1570s. Of bees from c.1600 (until late 17c., they generally were thought to be kings; cf. "Henry V," I.ii); queen bee in a figurative sense is from 1807. Meaning "male homosexual" (especially a feminine and ostentatious one) first certainly recorded 1924; probably here an alteration of quean, which is earlier in this sense. Queen Anne first used 1878 for "style characteristic of the time of Queen Anne of Great Britain and Ireland," who reigned 1702-14. Cincinnati, Ohio, has been the Queen City (of the West) since 1835.
  • noun female monarch
  • noun royal lady
Example sentences :
  • They told the story of a queen who had lived to be eighty-two years old.
  • Extract from : « Ancient Man » by Hendrik Willem van Loon
  • On the 24th of May we determined to celebrate the Queen's birthday.
  • Extract from : « Explorations in Australia » by John Forrest
  • Were I to be queen of the universe, that dignity should not absolve me from my duty to you and to my father.
  • Extract from : « Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9) » by Samuel Richardson
  • And she stood alert at the side of the road, looking at Andrew like a queen.
  • Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand
  • The prince and princess are hailed and received at the castle as king and queen.
  • Extract from : « Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327 » by Various
  • Fifty years before Queen Victoria had ascended the throne of England.
  • Extract from : « The Grand Old Man » by Richard B. Cook
  • He concluded by formally moving the presentation of the address to the Queen.
  • Extract from : « The Grand Old Man » by Richard B. Cook
  • The bill passed, and received the approval of the Queen, August 1, 1870.
  • Extract from : « The Grand Old Man » by Richard B. Cook
  • The principal toast, proposed by Mr. Gladstone, was the Queen.
  • Extract from : « The Grand Old Man » by Richard B. Cook
  • In 1642 Queen Henrietta Maria landed on whatever quay then existed.
  • Extract from : « Yorkshire Painted And Described » by Gordon Home

Synonyms for queen

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019