eldertongue

Old English · noun

cwene

Part of speech
noun, feminine
Declension
weak n-stem
IPA
/ˈkwe.ne/
Syllables
ˈkwe · ne (2 syllables)
Modern English
queannoblewomanwomanharlotlady

cwene1 · noun · feminine

Senses

  1. woman

  2. lady, noblewoman; queen

    Iċ wæs fǣmne ġeong, feaxhār cwene, ond ǣnlīċ rinċ on āne tīd; flēah mid fuglum ond on flōde swom, dēaf under ȳþe, dēad mid fiscum, ond on foldan stōp, hæfde forð cwicu.

    I was a young maiden, a grey-haired lady, and alone fighter at one time; flew with birds and swam on a tide, dove under waves, dead among fishes, and stepped on earth, kept alive forwards.

    c. 980, Exeter Book Riddle 74:

  3. common woman, harlot

Declension · weak n-stem

Declension of cwene
SingularPlural
Nominative cwenecwenan
Accusative cwenancwenan
Genitive cwenancwenena
Dative cwenancwenum

cwene2 · noun · inflected form

Senses

  1. inflection of cwēn:; accusative/genitive/dative singular

  2. inflection of cwēn:; nominative/accusative plural

  3. Inflected form of cwēn

All forms (4)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *kwenā, from Proto-Germanic *kwenǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn.

From cwēn.

Descendants

quean

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cwene · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution