n.
Pronunciation: ' kw ē n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English quene, from Old English cw ē n woman, wife, queen; akin to Gothic qens wife, Greek gyn ē 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