Etymograph

English

queen

Queen comes from Middle English quene ‘a queen’, from Proto-West Germanic *kwāni ‘woman, wife’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷénh₂s.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷénh₂s‘woman’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kwēniz‘wife’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kwāni‘woman’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150cwēn
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quene‘a queen’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1508queen

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷénh₂s‘woman’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kwēniz‘wife’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kwāni‘woman’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150cwēn
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quene‘a queen’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1508queen

Earliest quotation: 1508, William Dunbar, The Goldyn Targe: “Thare saw I May, of myrthfull monethis quene.”

The story

Generally eclipsed non-native Middle English regina (‘queen’), borrowed from Latin rēgīna (‘queen’) (see Modern English Regina). In reference to insects, by analogy with the obsolete term king, which it took over from starting in the 1600s, when they were discovered to be female.

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *gʷénh₂s

Today it means

noun The wife, consort, or widow of a king.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷénh₂s / queen

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