Back to all words

Queen

3 stages from Proto-Germanic to English.

Today it means the female ruler of a kingdom, or a king's wife

Where does the word "queen" come from? It comes from Proto-Germanic kwēniz, passing through Old English before entering English (1500s).

kwēniz→cwēn→queen

Proto-Germanic · ancient

related to Greek 'gynē', woman, as in 'gynaecology'

Old English · 700s-1000s

meant a woman, a wife, and a king's wife

English · 1500s

its twin 'quean', from Old English 'cwene', sank to mean a hussy, and the two words parted ways

Drag to pan · scroll to zoom

Read the full story

Queen’s story begins in Proto-Germanic: kwēniz meant “woman.” Related to Greek 'gynē', woman, as in 'gynaecology'. By 700s-1000s, the word had taken hold in Old English as cwēn. Meant a woman, a wife, and a king's wife. It reached English by 1500s as queen. Its twin 'quean', from Old English 'cwene', sank to mean a hussy, and the two words parted ways. Today, queen means the female ruler of a kingdom, or a king's wife.