— queenless , adj. — queenlike , adj.
/kween/ , n.
1. a female sovereign or monarch.
2. the wife or consort of a king.
3. a woman, or something personified as a woman, that is foremost or preeminent in any respect: a movie queen; a beauty queen; Athens, the queen of the Aegean.
4. Slang ( disparaging and offensive ).
a. a male homosexual, esp. one who is flamboyantly campy.
b. See drag queen .
5. a playing card bearing a picture of a queen.
6. Chess. the most powerful piece of either color, moved across any number of empty squares in any direction.
7. Entomol. a fertile female ant, bee, termite, or wasp.
8. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter Q.
v.i.
9. to reign as queen.
10. to behave in an imperious or pretentious manner (usually fol. by it ).
11. Chess. to become promoted to a queen.
[ bef. 900; ME quene, quen, OE cwen woman, queen; c. OS quan, ON kvan, Goth qens kweni-; akin to OIr ben, Gk gyné woman, Russ zhená, Skt jani wife ]