quean

[kween] /kwin/
noun
1.
an overly forward, impudent woman; shrew; hussy.
2.
a prostitute.
3.
British Dialect. a girl or young woman, especially a robust one.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English quene, Old English cwene; cognate with Middle Dutch quene, kone, Old Saxon, Old High German quena, Gothic qino < Germanic *kwenōn-; akin to Old English cwēn woman, queen
Related forms
queanish, adjective
queanlike, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for quean

quean

/kwiːn/
noun
1.
(archaic)
  1. a boisterous, impudent, or disreputable woman
  2. a prostitute; whore
2.
(Scot) a young unmarried woman or girl
Word Origin
Old English cwene; related to Old Saxon, Old High German quena, Gothic qino, Old Norse kona, Greek gunē woman. Compare queen
Word Origin and History for quean
n.

"young, robust woman," Old English cwene "woman," also "female serf, hussy, prostitute" (cf. portcwene "public woman"), from Proto-Germanic *kwenon (cf. Old Saxon quan, Old High German quena, Old Norse kona, Gothic qino "wife, woman"); see queen. Popular 16c.-17c. in sense "hussy." Sense of "effeminate homosexual" is recorded from 1935, especially in Australian slang.