queen
queen · noun
Definitions
noun
- 1.
A female ruler of an independent state, especially one who inherits the position by right of birth.
- 2.
The wife of a king.
- 3.
A woman or thing regarded as the best in a particular sphere.
- 4.
The most powerful piece in chess.
- 5.
A playing card bearing a picture of a queen.
- 6.
A reproductive female in a colony of social insects.
- 7.
(Informal) A man who behaves in a stereotypically effeminate way.
- 8.
(Chess) Convert a pawn into a queen when it reaches the opponent's side.
Forms
plural: queens
Phrases & expressions
- •queen bee — The dominant female; a reproductive female bee.
- •drama queen — Someone who overreacts to minor problems.
- •queen consort — The wife of a reigning king.
- •beauty queen — A winner of a beauty contest.
- •queen mother — The widow of a king who is mother of the current monarch.
Related words
Etymology
From Old English cwēn ("woman, wife, queen"), from Proto-Germanic kwēniz ("woman, wife").