"queen" in seven languages
Meaningqueen
Spanish
reina
/ˈrejna/
fem.inherited
French
reine
/ʁɛn/
fem.inherited
Italian
regina
/reˈdʒina/
fem.learned
Old Italian poetry has the inherited reina.
Portuguese
rainha
/haˈiɲɐ/
fem.inherited
Intervocalic G vanished and -N- became nh: RĒGĪNAM → rainha.
Romanian
regină
/reˈdʒinə/
fem.other source · Romanian rege 'king' (Latin RĒGEM) + feminine -ină
Catalan
reina
/ˈrɛjnə/
fem.inherited
English
queen
/kwin/
native English · Old English cwēn
English → ItalianqueenreginaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
RĒGĪNAM‘queen’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish and French lost the g as in rey / roi. Italian regina restored it from Latin; the inherited reina survives in medieval poetry.
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLa reina visitó la ciudad.
- frLa reine a visité la ville.
- itLa regina ha visitato la città.
- ptA rainha visitou a cidade.
- roRegina a vizitat orașul.
- caLa reina va visitar la ciutat.
- enThe queen visited the city.
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