Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Quean"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Quean \Quean\, n. [Originally, a woman, AS. cwene; akin to OS.
quena, OHG. quena, Icel. kona, Goth qin?, and AS. cw['e]n,
also to Gr. ? woman, wife, Skr. gn[=a] goddess. Cf. {Queen}.]
1. A woman; a young or unmarried woman; a girl. [Obs. or
Scot.] --Chaucer.
2. A low woman; a wench; a slut. ``The dread of every
scolding quean.'' --Gay.
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.