Quean definition
A woman regarded as being disreputable, especially a prostitute.
noun
A prostitute.
noun
A bold, brazen woman; hussy.
noun
(scots) A young woman.
noun
(scot.) A girl or unmarried woman.
noun
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Other Word Forms
Noun
Singular:
quean
Plural:
queansOrigin of quean
- Middle English quene from Old English cwene woman gwen- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English quene (“young, robust woman"), from Old English cwene (“woman, female serf"), from Proto-Germanic *kwenÇ (“woman"), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn (“woman"). Cognate with Dutch kween (“a barren woman, a barren cow"), Low German quene (“barren cow, heifer"), German dialectal Kan, Chan (“woman, wife"), Swedish kvinna (“woman"), Icelandic kona (“woman"), Gothic 𐌵𐌹𐌽𐍉 (qino, “female, woman"), 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃 (qens, “wife"). More at queen.
From Wiktionary