Queen

The word Queen ultimately derives from an Indo-European root *gwena (woman) via Old English cwén (woman, wife, queen). Cf. Old Norse kvenna (woman), Gothic qens (wife), Greek gynē (woman), Russian zhena, Sanskrit jani. It has many meanings:

Political

• Queen regnant, a female monarch
• Queen consort, the wife of a king
• Queen dowager, a woman who was queen consort but whose husband has died or abdicated, someone else having become monarch
• Queen Mother, a queen dowager whose child, having succeeded his or her father, is now the monarch
• Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom [1]
• Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark [2]
• Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

Biology

• Queen (insect), the only female insect in a hive or colony of social insects that is fertile and egg laying
• Queen (cat), a female cat, usually one with a litter of kittens
• Queen (butterfly), a butterfly species from the subfamily Danainae found in Oklahoma
• Queen bee, the only female honeybee in a hive that is fertile and egg laying

Game and sport

• Queen (chess), the most powerful piece in the game of chess
• Queen (chess engine), the name of a chess engine
• Queen (playing card), a card in a deck of playing cards or tarot cards
• Queening, an act in the game of checkers, draughts, or chess
• Queen's Club tennis club in London and the annual tennis tournament held there

Art and literature

• Queen (band), a British rock band, most prolific in the 1970s and 1980s with hits like "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions"
• Queen (album), the band Queen's debut album
• Queen: The Story of an American Family, a book by Alex Haley and a 1993 TV-miniseries based on the book
• Queens of the Stone Age, a rock music band

Other

• Queen Latifah, an actress and singer
• Drag queen, a type of entertainer
• Prom queen
• "Queen's Scout Award", the highest youth award in scouting when the British monarch is a female
• The Virgin Mary, as known by several epithets, including "Queen of the World," "Queen of Heaven," and "Queen of Angels"
• Facesitting or "queening", a sex act

See also

• Queen of Farts
• Queens, a borough in New York City, New York
• Queen's University, Canada, a university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada
• Queens County, New Brunswick
• Queens County, Nova Scotia
• Queens County, Prince Edward Island
• Queen's (electoral district), a disambiguation page for several electoral districts named Queens and Queen's in Canada
• Queens' College, Cambridge