Queen , v. i. [imp. & p. p. Queened (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Queening.]
(Chess.) To make a queen
(or other piece, at the
player's discretion) of by moving it
to the eighth row; as, to queen a pawn.
Queen , v. i. To act the part
of a queen. Shak.
Queen (?), n. [OE.
quen, quene, queen, quean, AS. cwēn wife, queen, woman; akin to OS.
quān wife, woman, Icel. kvān wife, queen, Goth. qēns. √221.
See Quean.]
1. The wife
of a king.
2. A woman who is the sovereign of a kingdom; a female monarch; as, Elizabeth, queen of England; Mary, queen of Scots.
In
faith, and by the heaven's quene.
Chaucer. 3. A woman eminent in power or
attractions; the highest of her kind; as,
a queen in society; -- also used figuratively of cities,
countries, etc. " This queen of cities." " Albion, queen of isles." Cowper.
4.
The fertile, or fully developed, female of social bees, ants, and
termites.
5. (Chess) The most powerful, and except the king the
most important, piece in a set of chessmen.
6. A playing card bearing the picture of a
queen; as, the queen of spades.
Queen apple. [Cf. OE. quyne aple quince apple.] A kind of apple; a queening. "Queen
apples and red cherries."
Spenser. -- Queen bee (Zoöl.), a female bee,
especially the female of the
honeybee. See Honeybee. -- Queen conch (Zoöl.), a very large West Indian cameo conch (Cassis cameo). It is much used for making cameos. -- Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king.
Blackstone. -- Queen dowager, the widow of a king. -- Queen gold, formerly a revenue of
the queen consort of England, arising from gifts, fines, etc. -- Queen mother, a queen dowager who is also mother of the
reigning king or queen. -- Queen of May. See May queen, under May. -- Queen of the meadow (Bot.), a European herbaceous plant
(Spiræa Ulmaria). See Meadowsweet.
-- Queen of the prairie (Bot.), an American herb (Spiræa lobata) with ample clusters of pale pink
flowers. -- Queen pigeon (Zoöl.),
any one of several species of very large and handsome crested ground pigeons of the genus
Goura, native of New Guinea
and the adjacent islands. They are mostly pale blue, or
ash-blue, marked with white, and have a large
occipital crest of spatulate feathers. Called
also crowned pigeon, goura, and Victoria pigeon. -- Queen regent, or Queen regnant, a queen reigning in her own right. -- Queen's Bench. See King's Bench. -- Queen's counsel, Queen's evidence. See King's counsel, King's evidence, under King. -- Queen's delight (Bot.),
an American plant (Stillinqia sylvatica) of the Spurge
family, having an herbaceous stem and a perennial woody root. -- Queen's metal (Metal.), an alloy somewhat resembling pewter or britannia, and consisting essentially of tin with a slight admixture of antimony, bismuth, and lead or copper. -- Queen's pigeon. (Zoöl.) Same as Queen pigeon, above. --
Queen's ware, glazed English earthenware of a cream color. -- Queen's yellow (Old Chem.), a heavy yellow powder consisting of a basic mercuric sulphate; -- formerly called turpetum minerale, or Turbith's mineral.
Hear it pronounced