cwen

Old English

Alternative forms

• cwǣn, cuēn
• cwœ̄n — Anglian
• cœ̄n — Northumbrian

Etymology

From earlier cwœ̄n ← *kwœ̄ni ← *kwōni ← *kwą̄ni, from Proto-West Germanic *kwāni (“woman, wife”), from Proto-Germanic *kwēniz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn. Cognate with Old Saxon quān, Old Norse kvæn, Gothic 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃 (qēns). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek γυνή (gunḗ), Proto-Slavic *žena, and Old Irish ben.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kweːn/

Noun

cwēn f

1. queen (a ruling female monarch or a king's wife)

   Engla cwēn

   The queen of England

2. princess (a king's daughter)
3. woman
4. wife

Declension

Strong i-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	cwēn	cwēne, cwēna
accusative	cwēn, cwēne	cwēne, cwēna
genitive	cwēne	cwēna
dative	cwēne	cwēnum

Synonyms

• cyninge (rare word for queen)
• friþuwebbe (figurative/kenning, literally “peace-weaver”)
• hlǣfdīġe (“noble woman, lady, queen”)
• wīf (the usual word for woman/wife)

Derived terms

• cwēnfugol
• cwēnhierde
• Cwēnland
• cwēnlīċ
• Cwēnsǣ
• dryhtcwēn
• ealdcwēn
• ealdra cwēna spell
• folccwēn
• gūþcwēn
• portcwēn
• rihtæþelcwēn
• þēodcwēn

 

Related terms

• cwene (“woman, wife”)

Descendants

• Middle English: quene, qwene, cwene, queene, quen, qween, qweene, queyne, qwenne, qwhene, kuene, quiene, queen
  • English: queen (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: queen, wheen
  • Yola: queen