quean

[kween]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR quean ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an overly forward, impudent woman; shrew; hussy.

a prostitute.

British Dialect. a girl or young woman, especially a robust one.

Origin of quean

before 1000; Middle English quene, Old English cwene; cognate with Middle Dutch quene, kone, Old Saxon, Old High German quena, Gothic qino < Germanic *kwenōn-; akin to Old English cwēn woman, queen

Related formsquean·ish, adjectivequean·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for quean

tramp, whore, floozy, Jezebel, jade, slattern, minx, hussy, wench, hooker, harlot, bimbo, malkin

Examples from the Web for quean

Historical Examples of quean

Ye maun leave this quean—the like of her is ower light company for you.
Red Gauntlet
Sir Walter Scott
I must get rid of this quean as fast as I can; and I must see her safe.
The Fair Maid of Perth
Sir Walter Scott
There is many a quean in it, fairer than I twice told, and not spoiled with weeping.
The Cloister and the Hearth
Charles Reade
There is many a quean in it fairer than I twice told, and not spoiled with weeping.
The Cloister and the Hearth
Charles Reade
You come hither to steal my glasses, and then counterfeit you are going to your quean's.
A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 10 (of 15)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for quean

quean

noun

archaic

a boisterous, impudent, or disreputable woman
a prostitute; whore

Scot a young unmarried woman or girl

Word Origin for quean

Old English cwene; related to Old Saxon, Old High German quena, Gothic qino, Old Norse kona, Greek gunē woman. Compare queen

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for quean

"young, robust woman," Old English cwene "woman," also "female serf, hussy, prostitute" (cf. portcwene "public woman"), from Proto-Germanic *kwenon (cf. Old Saxon quan, Old High German quena, Old Norse kona, Gothic qino "wife, woman"); see queen. Popular 16c.-17c. in sense "hussy." Sense of "effeminate homosexual" is recorded from 1935, especially in Australian slang.