quean

[ kween ]

/ kwin /

SEE 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.

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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

OTHER WORDS FROM quean

quean·ish, adjectivequean·like, adjective

Words nearby quean

quazzy, qubba, qubit, qubyte, que., quean, queasy, quebec, quebec city, quebecer, quebecker

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for quean

A knave and a quean, a thief and a strumpet, a couple of beggars, a brace of baggages.
The Mermaid Series. Edited by H. Ellis. The best plays of the old dramatists. Thomas Dekker. Edited, with an introduction and notes by Ernest Rhys.|Thomas Dekker
She could coax you to the buying like a Cumnock quean, and fleece you in the selling like the cadgers o' Kincardine.
The House with the Green Shutters|George Douglas Brown
There is many a quean in it, fairer than I twice told, and not spoiled with weeping.
The Cloister and the Hearth|Charles Reade
Spelling being fluid in Captain Dangerous' life, spellings such as "Quean" (which shows up twice) were retained.
The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 3 of 3|George Augustus Sala

There is many a quean in it fairer than I twice told, and not spoiled with weeping.
The Cloister and the Hearth|Charles Reade

British Dictionary definitions for quean

quean

/ (kwiːn) /

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

quean

noun

QUIZZES

Origin of quean

OTHER WORDS FROM quean

Words nearby quean

Words related to quean

Example sentences from the Web for quean

British Dictionary definitions for quean

noun

Word Origin for quean