queue
[ kyoo ]
/ kyu /
noun
a braid of hair worn hanging down behind.
a file or line, especially of people waiting their turn.
Computers. a FIFO-organized sequence of items, as data, messages, jobs, or the like, waiting for action.
verb (used with or without object), queued, queu·ing.
to form in a line while waiting (often followed by up).
Computers. to arrange (data, jobs, messages, etc.) into a queue.
RELATED CONTENT
Cue vs. QueueWhen do you cue, and when do you queue? Cue typically refers to a signal that encourages someone to take an action, while queue indicates an ordered line or file. Both cue and queue are pronounced like the letter Q, and are considered to be homophones. Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings. Additionally, both cue and queue can be used …
Nearby words
Origin of queue
1585–95; < Middle French < Latin cauda, cōda tail
Related forms
queu·er, nounWord story
The English noun queue comes from Middle French queu, quewe, queuue, cueue (with many other variant spellings) and Old French cue, coe “tail,” from Latin cauda (also cōda ) “tail (of an animal or scorpion),” also “penis.”
The first recorded meaning of queue in English, from Old French, dates from the late 15th century and meant “a band of parchment attached to a document and bearing a seal.” The historical sense “a braid of hair worn hanging down from the head or a wig,” dates from the 18th century. The very modern computing sense of queue “a sequence of items, as data, messages, jobs, or the like, waiting for action” dates from the 1960s.
The first recorded meaning of queue in English, from Old French, dates from the late 15th century and meant “a band of parchment attached to a document and bearing a seal.” The historical sense “a braid of hair worn hanging down from the head or a wig,” dates from the 18th century. The very modern computing sense of queue “a sequence of items, as data, messages, jobs, or the like, waiting for action” dates from the 1960s.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for queued
British Dictionary definitions for queued
queue
/ (kjuː) mainly British /
noun
a line of people, vehicles, etc, waiting for somethinga queue at the theatre
computing a list in which entries are deleted from one end and inserted at the other
a pigtail
jump the queue See queue-jump
verb queues, queuing, queueing or queued
(intr often foll by up) to form or remain in a line while waiting
computing to arrange (a number of programs) in a predetermined order for accessing by a computer
US and Canadian word: line
Word Origin for queue
C16 (in the sense: tail); C18 (in the sense: pigtail): via French from Latin cauda tail
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