Forms: 1 cwœn, cwæn, cwénn, 1–3 cwén, (1 cu-), 2–3 cwene, kwene; 2–4 quen, (3 quu-, 4 qw-), 2–6 quene, (4–6 qw-, 5 qv-), 3 quiene, quyene, 4 qwhene, 4–5 whene, queyn, 4–6 queyne, 4–7 queene, 6 quein(e, 4– queen. [OE. cwén str. fem. = OS. quân (once in Hel.), ON. kvæn (also kván), Goth. qêns woman:—OTeut. *kwǽni-z f., an ablaut-var. of the stem represented by OE. cwene QUEAN. The gen. sing. quene (OE. cwéne) is occas. found in ME.]
1. A (king’s) wife or consort; a lady who is wife to a king.
Even in OE. cwén was app. not an ordinary term for ‘wife,’ but was applied only to the wife of a king or (in poetry) some famous person; in later use the only distinction between this sense and 2 a is that here the relationship of the queen to her husband is formally expressed.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., I. ii. § 2. Æfter his deaðe Sameramis his cwen [L. uxor] fengc … to þæm rice.
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Gen., 2259. Ða wearð unbliðe Abrahames cwen.
c. 1050. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1048. Þa forlet se cyng þa hlæfdian seo wæs ʓehalʓod him to cwene. Ibid. (a. 1123), an. 1115. Willelme þe he be his cwene hæfde.
c. 1205. Lay., 43. Ælienor þe wes Henries quene.
13[?]. Coer de L., 1123. Erlys and barouns come hym to, And his quene dede alsoo.
1591. Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., V. iii. 117. Ile vndertake to make thee Henries Queene. Ibid. (1611), Wint. T., III. ii. 12. Hermione, Queene to the worthy Leontes, King of Sicilia.
1859. Tennyson, Elaine, 1215. As Arthur’s Queen I move and rule.
2. a. The wife or consort of a king. b. A woman who is the chief ruler of a state, having the same rank and position as a king.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter xliv. 10. Ætstod cwoen [L. regina] to swiðran ðire.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 584. Sum cwen wæs on ðam daʓum on suðdæle, Saba ʓehaten.
c. 1205. Lay., 24555. Þe king … to his mete uerde … þa quene [c. 1275 cweane] on oðer halue hire hereberwe isohte.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 2/41. Bifore þe quyene huy come.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 608. Þe quene fader Corineus.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 2492. Þe kyng kysseȝ þe knyȝt, & þe whene alce.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 3163. Menelai wife, Lady of þis lond … and a gai qwhene.
c. 1420. Avow. Arth., xxxiii. Hit is atte the quene wille.
1473. Warkw., Chron. (Camden), 9. The Lorde Scales, the Quenes brother, was sent thedere.
1562. Winȝet, Cert. Tractates, Wks. 1888, I. 32. Dew obedience … to kingis, quenis, princes, and prelatis.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., II. i. 19. The King doth keepe his Reuels here to night, Take heed the Queene come not within his sight.
1628. Milton, Vacat. Exerc., 47. Then sing of secret things … And last of Kings and Queens and Hero’s old.
1710. Swift, Lett. (1767), III. 29. My memorial which was given to the queen.
1845. Sarah Austin, Ranke’s Hist. Ref., II. 385. His sister waited in Vittoria … in order to enter France as queen.
c. With additions, as queen-consort, -dowager, † -dowrier, -rectrix, -regent, -regnant, -widow: see CONSORT, etc.; also QUEEN-MOTHER.
1555. [see DOWRIER].
1622. Bacon, Hen. VII., Mor. & Hist. Wks. (Bohn, 1860), 311. To remain with the queen dowager her mother.
1650. Bulwer, Anthropomet., 198. A late Queen-Rectrix.
1727. De Foe, Syst. Magic, I. ii. (1840), 42. The queen dowager was with child, and would bring forth a prince.
1765. Blackstone, Comm., I. iv. 212. The queen of England is either queen regent, queen consort, or queen dowager.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xxxvii. Since Margaret of Anjou, no queen-consort had exercised such weight in the political affairs of England.
1891. C. Creighton, Hist. Epidem. Brit., 288. The queen-widow (mother of Edward V.) had died of the plague.
3. As a title, placed immediately before a personal name († in OE. immediately after it); also the queen, before or after the name (now arch.). See also QUEEN ANNE.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., I. x. § 3. Þær wearð Marsepia sio cwen ofslaʓen.
c. 893. O. E. Chron. (Parker MS.), an. 888. Æþelswiþ cuen, sio wæs Ælfredes sweostor cyninges. Ibid. (a. 1121), (Laud MS.), an. 1097. Malcomes sunu cynges & Margarite þære cwenan.
c. 1205. Lay., 2122. Hit is icleped Wales for þere quen Galoes.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 74. Whene Guenore ful gay, grayþed in þe myddes.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VII. 165. Þan þe queene Emme gaf unto seynt Swithyn nyne maneres.
1506. Guylforde, Pylgr. (1851), 4. Lasheles, where lyethe quene Elyanour of Englonde.
1572. Memorial, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), 23. Young Quein Marie.
1673. Wycherley, Gentl. Dancing-Master, V. i. 95. You must … furnish as becomes one of my Quality; for don’t you think we’ll take up with your old Queen Elizabeth Furniture.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Queen Elisabeth’s Pocket-pistol, a Brass-Cannon of a prodigious Length at Dover-Castle.
1738. Swift, Polite Conv., i. News? Why, Madam, Queen Elizabeth’s dead.
1754. Richardson, Grandison, I. xxxvii. 270. We will leave the modern world to themselves; and be Queen Elizabeth’s women.
1847. Wordsw., Ode Install. Pr. Albert, ad. fin. The pride of the islands, Victoria the Queen.
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl. 733/2. Queen Charlotte’s ware, now known by the contracted title [Queensware].
4. With specification of the people, country, etc., ruled over by a queen or by the king her consort, as Queen of Scots, of France. Also Queen of Spain (see quot. 1866 and FRITILLARY 2).
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xii. 42. Cuen suð-dæles arises … in dom.
c. 1205. Lay., 4570. He þohte to habben Delgan to quene of Denemarke.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 296. Hu ma it ben, Adam ben king and eue quuen Of alle ðe ðinge in werlde ben.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Man of Law’s T., 63. I … wolde she were of all Europe the queene.
c. 1440. Generydes, 17. His doughter quene of Inde.
1562. Winȝet, Cert. Tractates, Wks. 1888, I. 2. The maist excellent and gracius Souerane, Marie Quene of Scottis.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., III. vi. 11. He … made her Of lower Syria, Cyprus, Lydia, absolute Queene.
1712–4. Pope, Rape Lock, III. 13. One speaks the glory of the British Queen.
1770. Ann. Reg., 102. Died lately, at her hut at Norwood, Bridget, the Queen of the Gipseys.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), III. 200. Her Majesty or her successors, kings or queens of the realm.
1866. Blackmore, Cradock Nowell, xxx. (1873), 169. If by the ‘Queen of Spain’ you mean that common brown little butterfly.
5. transf. A female whose rank or pre-eminence is comparable to that of a queen.
a. Applied to the Virgin Mary, esp. in phr. as Queen of glory, grace, heaven, paradise, women, etc.
a. 900. Cynewulf, Christ, 276. Seo clæneste cwen ofer eorþan.
971. Blickl. Hom., 105. Þa ealra fæmnena cwen cende þone soþan scyppend.
a. 1240. Ureisun, in Cott. Hom., 195. Ich ðe bidde holi heouene kwene.
c. 1325. Song Virg., 33, in O. E. Misc., 195. Leuedi quene of parays.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxiv. (Alexis), 26. Þat he in weding borne was of mary, þe quene of grace.
c. 1410. Hoccleve, Mother of God, 2. O blisful queene, of queenes Emperice.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, I. 261. Quhen scho him saw scho thankit hewynnis queyn.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lxxxv. 37. Haile, qwene serene! Haile, moste amene!
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, VII. xxvii. 582. The favour which the Queene of glorie did to our men.
1798. Coleridge, Anc. Mar., V. i. To Mary-queen the praise be yeven.
1840. I. Taylor, Ancient Chr. (1842), II. ii. 169. Our Queen, though the Queen of heaven as well as of earth [etc.].
b. Applied to the goddesses of ancient religions or mythologies; also in phrases, as queen of heaven, love, marriage, etc.
1382. Wyclif, Jer. vii. 18. That thei make sweete cakis to the quen of heuene.
1508. Dunbar, Gold. Targe, 73. Thare saw I Nature, and [als dame] Venus quene. Ibid. (1500–20), Poems, xlviii. 63. Haill princes Natur, haill Venus luvis quene.
1592. Shaks., Ven. & Ad., 251. Poor queen of love, in thine own law forlorn! Ibid. (1608), Per., II. iii. 30. By Juno, that is queen of marriage.
1629. Milton, Ode Nativity, 201. Mooned Ashtaroth, Heavn’s Queen and Mother both.
1809. in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1810), XIII. 328. O Venus, Queen of Drury Lane.
a. 1822. Shelley, Hom. Venus, 13. Diana, golden-shafted queen.
c. Applied to a woman as a term of endearment and honor.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., IV. iii. 41. O Queene of Queenes, how farre dost thou excell, No thought can thinke. Ibid. (1596), Merch. V., II. i. 12. I would not change this hue, Except to steale your thoughts, my gentle Queene.
1865. Ruskin, Sesame, 185. Queens you must always be; queens to your lovers; queens to your husbands and your sons.
d. A woman who has pre-eminence or authority in a specified sphere. † Queen of the Bean: see BEAN 6 c. Queen of Hearts (cf. 8 b). Queen of the May: see MAY.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., III. ii. 171. I was the lord of this fair mansion … Queen o’er myself. Ibid. (1608), Per., II. iii. 17. Come, queen o’ the feast, For, daughter, so you are.
c. 1645. Howell, Lett., II. xii. (1650), 13. The Lady Elizabeth, which … is called … for her winning Princely comportment, the Queen of Hearts.
1652. J. Wright, trans. Camus’ Nat. Paradox, III. 53. Shee thought to triumph over all her Competitors and be Queen of the Bean.
1816. Keats, To my Brother George, 87. Upon a morn in May … that lovely lass Who chosen is their queen.
a. 1822. Shelley, Chas. I., II. 394. The Twelfth-night Queen of Hearts.
1830. Tennyson, Isabel, ii. Isabel … The queen of marriage, a most perfect wife.
1858. Lytton, What will He do? I. xiv. Lady Selina Vipont was one of the queens of London.
6. Applied to things: a. Anything personified as a woman and looked upon as the chief, esp. the most excellent or beautiful, of its class.
a. 1050. Liber Scintill., xvii. (1889), 84. Ealdorlicra leahtra cwen and modor ofermodignyss ys.
a. 1225. St. Marher., 19. Meiðhad þe is cwen of alle mihtes.
1340. Ayenb., 10. Þe kuen of uirtues, dame charite.
1508. Dunbar, Gold. Targe, 82. There saw I May, of myrthfull monethis quene.
1563. Foxe, A. & M., 333/2. That noble ground and quene of prouinces.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, II. vi. 93. This river (which in my opinion, deserves well the name of Empresse and Queene of all flouds).
a. 1720. Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.), Wks. (1753), I. 6. Paris, the queen of cities.
1861. S. Thomson, Wild Fl., III. (ed. 4), 286. The ‘lady fern’ … sometimes called the ‘Queen of Ferns.’
1886. E. Miller, Textual Guide, 75. The Peshito has been called ‘The Queen of Versions.’
b. That which in a particular sphere has pre-eminence comparable to that of a queen.
Queen of heaven, night, the tides, the moon. Queen of the meadow(s, MEADOW-SWEET. Queen of the prairie, an American herbaceous plant, Spiræa lobata (N. O. Rosaceæ).
1552. Lyndesay, Monarche, Prol. 153. Synthea, the hornit nychtis quene.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. ccccxix. (1633), 1043. Called in English Meadow Sweet and Queene of the Medowes.
1611. Shaks., Wint. T., IV. iv. 146. Each your doing … Crownes what you are doing … That all your Actes, are Queenes.
1671. Milton, P. R., IV. 45. Great and glorious Rome, Queen of the Earth.
1812. Byron, Ch. Har., II. lxxx. The Queen of tides on high consenting shone.
1840. Alison, Hist. Europe, li. § 52. The Emperor travelled … to Venice: he there admired the marble palaces of the Queen of the Adriatic.
1878. Bosw. Smith, Carthage, 9. Destined … to become the Queen of the Mediterranean.
1883. G. Macdonald, Donal Grant, ii. 18. Bushes of meadow-sweet, or queen-of-the-meadow, as it is called in Scotland.
7. The perfect female of bees, wasps or ants.
1609. C. Butler, Fem. Mon., 1. Of the nature and properties of Bees, and of their Queene.
a. 1711. Ken, Sion, Poet. Wks. 1721, IV. 352. The same Tune … In which the Bees … For their Dismission to their Queen entreat.
1724. Derham, in Phil. Trans., XXXIII. 54. The Male Wasps are lesser than the Queens.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), VIII. 124. The working ants having … deposed their queens.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, I. 39. Around them both Sweet thoughts would swarm as bees about their queen.
1892. Lubbock, Beaut. Nat., 60. The working Ants and Bees always turn their heads towards the Queen.
8. In games. a. In chess: The piece that has greatest freedom of movement, and hence is most effective for defending the king, next to which it is placed at the beginning of the game. Also, the position on the board attained by a pawn when it is queened (see QUEEN v. 4).
Queen’s bishop, knight, pawn, etc.: cf. KING 9 a. Queen’s gambit: see GAMBIT. † To make a Queen = QUEEN v. 4.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., xxi. 71 (Harl. MS.). The fifthe [piece] is þe quene, that goth fro blak to blak, or fro white to white, and is yset beside þe kyng.
1474. Caxton, Chesse, II. ii. B iij b. Thus ought the Quene be maad; She ought to be a fayr lady sittyng in a chayer [etc.].
1562. Rowbothum, Playe of Cheasts, C v. Thou shalte playe thy queenes Paune one steppe geuing him checke by discouery of thy queenes Bishoppe.
1597. G. B., Ludus Schacciæ, A 4. When he [the pawn] can … arrive at the last ranke of his enemies he is chosen and made … the Queene.
a. 1689. Yng. Statesmen, vi. in Coll. Poems Popery, 8/2. So have I seen a King on Chess … His Queen and Bishops in distress.
1735. Bertin, Chess, 38. The Queens Gambet, which gives a Pawn with a design to catch her adversary’s Queen’s Rook.
1761. Hoyle, Chess, 51. The exact Number of Moves, before you can make a Queen.
1773. Philidor, Chess Analysed, 13. The King’s Pawn makes a Queen, and wins the Game.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), IV. 640. He should take the adversary’s pawns, and move the others to queen.
1822. W. Lewis, Elem. Game Chess, 149. If a Pawn be on a Rook’s file it will go to Queen.
1838. Lytton, Alice, 169. I think I will take the queen’s pawn.
1894. J. Mason, Principles Chess, 77. Just as the foremost [Pawn] is but a square from Queen.
b. In ordinary playing-cards: A card bearing the figure of a queen, of which there are four in each pack, ranking next to the kings.
1575. Gamm. Gurton, II. ii. 29. There is five trumps beside the queene.
1607. Heywood, Wom. Killed w. Kindn., Wks. 1874, II. 123. This Queene I haue more then my owne … Giue me the stocke.
1712–4. Pope, Rape of Lock, III. 88. The Knave of Diamonds … wins … the Queen of Hearts.
1791. Gentl. Mag., 141. The Queen of Clubs is called in Northamptonshire, Queen Bess.
1816. Singer, Hist. Cards, 39. Like the Italians and Germans, they [the Spaniards] have no Queen in the Pack.
1885. R. A. Proctor, Whist, 5. I lead Ace, and follow with Queen of my best suit.
9. Technical uses. a. pl. One of the classes into which fullers’ teasels are sorted (see quot.).
1813. T. Rudge, Gen. View Agric. Glouc., 156. The produce of the second and subsequent cuttings are sorted, according to their size, into Queens, which are the best teazles; Middlings … and Scrubs.
b. A roofing-slate, measuring three feet by two.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 622. Slaters class the Welsh slates in the following order: Doubles, Ladies,… Queens.
1893. J. Brown, Open. Railw. to Delabole, xxiii. We’ve countess, duchess, queens and rags.
c. pl. A class of apples, the rennets (q.v.).
1836. Loudon, Encycl. Plants, 426. Apples are classed as pippins or seedlings,… rennets or queens, specked fruits.
10. a. A name of the scallop and cockle, = QUIN.
1803. G. Montagu, Testacea Brit., I. 146. Pecten opercularis … in Devonshire and Cornwall is … known by the name of Frills or Queens.
1883. N. Joly, Man bef. Metals, II. i. 200. Several molluscs, especially oysters,… mussels, queens, whelks, and snails.
b. A local name for the smear-dab.
1674. Ray, Coll. Words, Sea Fishes, 100. Queens: a Fish thinner than a Plaise.
1884. St. James’s Gaz., 18 Jan., 6/1. The … lemon-dab or queen.
11. A female cat. (Cf. queen-cat in 13.)
1898. Bishopsgate Cats, in Ladies’ Field, 6 Aug., 378/1. A few outdoor houses for the queens are used.
II. attrib. and Comb.
12. General combs. a. appositive, as queen-bride, -county, -galley, -moon, -rose, -spirit, -spouse, -strumpet. b. attrib., as queen-craft, -features. c. objective, as queen-killing.
1606. Proc. agst. late Traitors, 105. That King-killing and Queen-killing was not indeed a doctrine of theirs.
1634. Ford, Perk. Warbeck, III. ii. This new queen-bride must henceforth be no more My daughter.
a. 1661. Fuller, Worthies, Kent (1662), I. 67. She [Q. Elizabeth] was well skilled in the Queen-craft.
1820. Keats, Ode to Nightingale, 36. Haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne.
1846. Browning, Lett., 16 June (1899), II. 241. You must … add the queen-rose to his garland.
1863. Atlantic Monthly, Oct., 502/1. The queen-strumpet of modern history.
1880. J. Hay, Pike County Ball., 113. The still queen-features glorious In the dawn of love’s first gleams.
1888. Th. Watts, in Athenæum, 18 Aug., 224/2. See how the four queen-galleys ride.
13. Special combs.: † queen-apple, an early variety of apple; queen-bee, a fully developed female bee; also transf.; queen-bird, a swan; queen-cage, an apparatus for conveying or transferring a queen-bee to a hive; queen-cake, a small currant-cake, usually heart-shaped; queen-cat = QUEEN 11; queen-cell, a cell in a bee-hive, in which the queen is reared; queen closer, a quarter of a brick, used in building to ‘close’ the end of a course (see CLOSER2 3); queen-conch, a large marine shell, Strombus gigas; queen-excluder, a device in a bee-hive to prevent the passage of the queen without excluding the workers (Funk’s Stand. Dict.); queen-fish, a small edible fish (Seriphus politus) found along the Pacific coast of America (Cent. Dict., 1891); † queen-gold, a former revenue of the king’s consort, consisting of one-tenth on certain fines paid to the king; queen-lily, a Peruvian ornamental flowering plant of the genus Phædranassa (Cent. Dict.); queen-pigeon = queen’s pigeon (Funk’s Stand. Dict.); queen-stitch, a fancy stitch in embroidery; † queen-suit, a set of cards belonging to one suit, of which the queen is the highest; queen-truss, a roof-truss in which there are QUEEN-POSTS; queen-wasp, a perfect female wasp; queenwood, an Australian timber tree, Davidsonia pruriens (see also quot.).
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., June, 43. Tho would I seeke for *Queene apples vnrype.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 511. Few Fruits are coloured Red within; The Queen-apple is.
1707. Mortimer, Husbandry, 537. The Queen Apple, those … of the Summer kind, are good Cyder Apples, mix’d with others.
1609. C. Butler, Fem. Mon., i. A 3. The *Q[u]eene-bee is a Bee of a comely and stately shape.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Queen-bee, a term given by late writers to what used to be called the king-bee.
1823. Byron, Juan, XIII. xiii. Sweet Adeline, amidst the gay world’s hum, Was the Queen-Bee.
1830. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. IV. (1863), 286. Repeating … as we met the *Queen-birds, ‘The swans on fair St. Mary’s lake.’
1875. J. Hunter, Manual Bee-keeping, 82. There are many more *Queen cages in use, and … there is no reason why any Bee-keeper should not make modifications.
1769. Mrs. Raffald, Eng. Housekpr. (1778), 271. To make *Queen Cakes.
1840. Mrs. F. Trollope, Widow Married, xii. When I’ve done eating this one queen-cake more.
1691. Ray, N.-C. Words, Wheen-cat, a *queen-cat.
1843. Zoologist, I. 158. I had the satisfaction of seeing that one *queen-cell had been commenced.
1842–59. Gwilt, Archit. (ed. 4), § 1896. It becomes necessary near the angles to interpose a quarter brick … called a *queen closer.
1813. Sketches Character (ed. 2), I. 130. That *Queen Conch wants only colouring to persuade us it is a real one.
1885. Lady Brassey, The Trades, 303. Some years ago the queen-conch (a shell with a delicate pink lining) was in great demand for export.
1679. Blount, Anc. Tenures, 36. *Queen-gold is a Royal duty of Ten in the Hundred.
1765. Blackstone, Comm., I. 221. The queen … is intitled to an antient perquisite called queen-gold or aurum reginae.
1875. Stubbs, Const. Hist., II. xv. 218, note. In 1255 the citizens refused to pay queen-gold.
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, 192. *Queen Stitch.—Also known as Double Square. [Description follows.]
1744. Hoyle, Piquet, 9. The younger-hand is generally to carry Guards to his *Queen-suits.
1778. C. Jones, Hoyle’s Games Impr., 71.
1724. Derham, in Phil. Trans., XXXIII. 59. The *Queen-Wasps … were weak, and did not buz long.
1827. E. Bevan, Honey-Bee, 187. The queen-wasps were unusually numerous in the spring of that year.
1882. Ogilvie (citing Weale), *Queen-wood, a name sometimes given to woods of the greenheart and cocoa-wood character, imported from the Brazils.
14. Combinations with queen’s. a. In titles or appellations, with the sense of ‘belonging to, in the service of the queen,’ ‘royal’ (cf. KING’S), as Queen’s advocate, bench, counsel, English, evidence, highway, keys, letter, messenger, pay, peace, prison, servant, wardrobe: see these words.
In these terms, as in many of those given under b, the use of queen’s in place of king’s is largely or entirely a result of the long reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901).
b. queen’s allowance (see quot.); queen’s arm, a musket; † queen’s cloth (?); queen’s colours, one of the pair of colours carried by a regiment, the royal colours; queen’s cushion, a seat (for a girl) made by the crossed hands of two persons (Jamieson, 1808); † queen’s evil = king’s evil, scrofula; queen’s gambit: see GAMBIT; queen’s game: see DOUBLET 3 b; † queen’s head, a postage stamp; queen’s metal, an alloy of tin, antimony, bismuth and lead; queen’s own, Government property or provisions (Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 1867); queen’s parade, the quarter-deck (ibid.); queen’s pigeon, a large and beautiful crested pigeon of the Papuan region, Gaura Victoriæ; queen’s pipe, a furnace formerly used for destroying smuggled or damaged tobacco; queen’s shilling, a shilling formerly given to a recruit when enlisting; † queen’s stuff (?); queen’s tobacco pipe = queen’s pipe; queen’s ware, (a) a cream-colored kind of Wedgwood ware; (b) a kind of stone-ware; queen’s weather, fine weather; queen’s yellow, turpeth mineral, used as a yellow pigment.
1876. Voyle & Stevenson, Milit. Dict., 320/2. *Queen’s allowance, an allowance in aid of the expenses of the officers’ mess.
1848. Lowell, Biglow P., Ser. I. The Courtin’. The ole *queen’s-arm that gran’ther Young Fetched back from Concord busted.
14[?]. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 607/19. Regilla, a *Quenyscloth.
1597. A. M., trans. Guillemeau’s Fr. Chirurg., 19/2. The curing of *Queens evil.
1600. Surflet, Countrie Farme, I. xii. 58. For the Queenes euill [margin The Kinges euill].
c. 1554. Interlude of Youth, C iij. I can teache you to play at the dice, At the *quenes game and at the Iryshe.
a. 1618. J. Davies, Wittes Pilgr. (1878), 32 (D.). Here Love at tick-tack plaies, or at Queen’s-game, But Irish hates.
1844. Alb. Smith, Adv. Mr. Ledbury, xv. (1886), 45. Notes it would not do to stick a penny *Queen’s Head upon.
1860. Miss Yonge, Stokesley Secr., i. (1861), 16. I must have a queen’s-head to write to Mamma.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 952. *Queen’s metal … serves also for teapots and other domestic utensils.
1856. Miller, Inorg. Chem., II. 930. Another alloy, which is intermediate in properties between pewter and Britannia metal, is called Queen’s metal.
1882. B’ham Weekly Post, 2 Jan., 8/4. Abolition of the *‘Queen’s Pipe.’
1882. J. Ashton, Soc. Life Reign Q. Anne, II. 203. The *Queen’s shilling once being taken … there was no help for the recruit, unless he was bought out.
1766. W. Gordon, Gen. Counting-ho., 428. 16 fine brocaded *queens stuffs.
1843. Penny Cycl., XXV. 17. The damaged tobacco thus removed is consumed in a furnace … jocularly termed the *‘queen’s tobacco pipe.’
1782. Wedgwood, in Phil. Trans., LXX. 320. Delft ware is fired by a heat of 40 or 41°; cream-coloured or *Queen’s ware, by 86°.
1792. A. Young, Trav. France, 79. English goods … hard and queen’s ware; cloths and cottons.
1884. Health Exhib. Catal., 49/2. Sanitary appliances in action, and general Queen’s Ware.
1899. Johannesburg Star (weekly, ed.), 22 April. Although the wind is rather high, *Queen’s weather prevails.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 1054. *Queen’s Yellow is an antient name of Turbith Mineral, or yellow subsulphate of mercury.
1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, II. 70. When canaries are ‘a bad colour’ … they are re-dyed, by the application of … ‘Queen’s Yellow.’
c. in names of plants, as † queen’s balm, alyssum; queen’s berry, the cloudberry, Rubus Chamæmorus; queen’s cushion, cut-leaved saxifrage (Treas. Bot., 1866); queen’s delight, an American euphorbiaceous plant, Stillingia sylvatica (ibid.); queen’s flower, an Indian tree (Lagerstrœmia Flos-Reginæ) with beautiful rose-colored flowers (Cent. Dict., 1891); queen’s gilliflower or July-flower, dame’s violet, Hesperis Matronalis; † queen’s herb, tobacco (see QUEEN-MOTHER 4); queen’s pincushion, the flowers of the guelder rose (Cassell’s Encycl. Dict., 1886); queen’s root = queen’s delight (Mayne, Expos. Lex., 1858); queen’s violet = queen’s gilliflower.
1767. Abercrombie, Ev. Man his own Gardener (1803), 735/1. List of Hardy Annuals … Alysson, or mad-wort, *Queen’s Balm.
1861. S. Thomson, Wild Fl., III. (ed. 4), 221. It is the cloud-berry or *queen’s-berry.
1573. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 96. Herbes, branches, and flowers, for windowes and pots. *Queenes gilleflowers.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. cxxii. (1633), 461. Dames Violets or Queenes Gillofloures.
1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., App. 314. Queen’s July flower, Hesperis.
1577. Frampton, Joyfull Newes, II. lxxvi. 42. Some haue called this Hearbe the *Queenes herbe, because it was firste sente vnto her.
[1894. S. J. Weyman, Man in Black, 60. You take the Queen’s herb, you sneeze.]
1731. Miller, Gard. Dict., Index (1733), *Queen’s Violet, vide Hesperis.
