quene

English

Letter by Lady Jane Grey addressed by "Jane the Quene" dated 1553

Noun

quene (plural quenes)

1. Obsolete spelling of queen.

Anagrams

• Queen, queen

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English cwēn (“woman, wife, queen”) (the final schwa is by analogy with other Old English feminine nouns, such as Etymology 2), from Proto-West Germanic *kwāni, from Proto-Germanic *kwēniz, from a derivative of *gʷḗn (“woman, wife”). Cognates include:

• Ancient Greek γυνή (gunḗ), Greek γυναίκα (gynaíka)
• Old Prussian genna
• Persian زَن (zan)
• Sanskrit जनि (jani)
• Proto-Slavic *žena

Alternative forms

• qwene, cwene, queene, quen, qween, qweene, queyne, qwenne, qwhene, kuene, quiene, queen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkweːn(ə)/

Noun

quene (plural quenes or (early) quene)

2. A queen (female monarch; queen regnant)
3. A queen (consort to a king or similar ruler; queen consort)
4. Any powerful woman noble (e.g. a former queen consort, a duchess, etc.)
5. A female divine or holy figure; a female divinity or the Virgin Mary.
6. A female embodiment, exemplar, or representation of a moral ideal.
7. (familiar) An affectionate or loving way to refer to a woman one loves.
8. (rare) A female follower of Christianity in heaven.
9. (rare, Late Middle English) The queen (chess piece introduced towards the end of the ME era)

Descendants

• English: queen (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: queen, wheen
• Yola: queen

References

• “quẹ̄n(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 6 May 2019.

Etymology 2

From Old English cwene (“woman, wife, prostitute”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwenā, from Proto-Germanic *kwenǭ, from the same Indo-European source as above. Cognate to Gothic 𐌵𐌹𐌽𐍉 (qinō), Middle High German kone, kan, kun, quëne, Old Norse kona, and Middle Low German quene.

Alternative forms

• qwene, cwene, queene, quen, qweyn

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwɛːn(ə)/, /ˈkwæːn(ə)/

Noun

quene (plural quenes or (early) quenen)

2. A woman, especially one of low birth.
3. A female prostitute or sex worker.
4. An elderly woman.

Descendants

• English: quean
• Scots: quean, quein, quine, quin, queynie

References

• “quē̆ne, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 6 May 2019.