Queen
QUEEN (O.E. oven, wife, related to "quean," O.E. cwene, a hussy; cf. Gr. yvvfi: from root gan-, to produce; cf. genus, " kin," etc.), the title of the consort or wife of a king (" queen consort" ), or of a woman who is herself the sovereign ruler of a state ("queen regnant"); the widow of a former reigning sovereign is a " queen dowager," and, when the mother of the reigning sovereign, a " queen mother."
For the position of the queen in English constitutional law see CONSORT, and for her household see HOUSEHOLD, ROYAL.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
