quean

American  

[kween] / kwin /

noun

1. Archaic. an overly forward, impudent woman; shrew; hussy.

2. Archaic. a prostitute.

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

---

quean British  

/ kwiːn /

noun

1. archaic

   1. a boisterous, impudent, or disreputable woman

   2. a prostitute; whore

2. a young unmarried woman or girl

---

Other Word Forms

• queanish
  adjective
• queanlike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of quean

First recorded before 1000; Middle English quene, Old English cwene; cognate with Middle Dutch quene, kone, Old Saxon, Old High German quena, Gothic qino, from unattested Germanic kwenōn-; akin to Old English cwēn “woman, queen” ( see queen)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

quean

Here's to the maiden of bashful fifteen; Here's to the widow of fifty; Here's to the flaunting, extravagant quean, And here's to the housewife that's thrifty.

From Familiar Quotations by Bartlett, John

For the bride was a stout household quean; her face painted with vermilion, and her person arrayed in uncouth embroidered garments. 

From The Life of Lord Byron by Galt, John

It should be noted that E. queen is not precisely the same word as E. quean.

From A Concise Dictionary of Middle English From A.D. 1150 to 1580 by Mayhew, A. L. (Anthony Lawson)

I don't set store by clothes, meself; but a fine han'some quean they make of ye.

From Lady Good-for-Nothing by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

She vow'd, she swore she wad be mine, She said she lo'ed me best o' onie; But, ah! the fickle, faithless quean, She 's ta'en the carl, and left her Johnnie!

From The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume I. The Songs of Scotland of the past half century by Rogers, Charles

Related Words

• tramp
• whore