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Etymology and origin of the English word cue

English has two nouns spelled cue with different origins: a signal to an actor, which may come from the letter Q, and the billiard stick, a variant of queue.[1][2][3][4]

Pronunciation

cue1 signal

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
1553

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[1][2][4][6] In the 16th and 17th centuries it was often written Q or q, and writers of the time explained it as an abbreviation of a Latin word, Latin quandō (“when”) or quālis (“of what kind”), marked in actors' copies of plays where they were to begin;[1][2][3][7][8] the OED notes that no evidence confirming this has been found.[1] Merriam-Webster and the AHD accept the derivation as probable,[9][10] and Etymonline traces the Latin adverb to Proto-Indo-European *kʷo-, the stem of relative and interrogative pronouns.[2][10] Another proposal takes it from French queue (“tail”), as the tail end of the preceding speech,[1][11] but the OED objects that French never used queue in this way, the cue being called réplique there.[1] Shakespeare's printed texts have both Q and cue.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The last words of a speech in a play, which signal another actor to enter or speak: 1553, written q;[1][3][9] spelled out as quew in 1565.[3]

Semantic evolution

Already in 1565 the word was used figuratively for a hint or signal to speak or act,[1][2] and in 1567 it first meant a person's mood or frame of mind,[1] a sense that lived on in northern English and Scots dialect ("in fine cue").[12] From 1581 it meant the part assigned to someone, the proper course to take.[1] Johnson (1755) defined it as the last words of a speech that the next player catches, and as a hint or intimation.[13] It was transferred to music in 1880, for a direction that helps a player come in after a long rest,[1][2] and to film and broadcasting by 1932.[1] Psychology took it in 1931 for a signal to perception or response.[1] The verb, to give someone a cue, is recorded from 1928,[1][2][3] and the television cue card by 1948.[2]

Timeline

  • 1553 – an actor's signal, written q.[1][3]
  • 1565 – a hint or signal to act; spelled quew.[1][3]
  • 1567 – mood, humour.[1]
  • 1880 – (music) a direction to come in.[1][2]
  • 1928 – verb, to give a cue.[1][2]
  • 1931 – (psychology) a stimulus to response.[1]
  • 1948 – cue card.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A word, line or action in a performance that is the signal for an actor, musician or technician to do something: The drummer missed his cue.
  2. A hint or signal that tells someone what to do or when; on cue, at just the right moment.
  3. (psychology) A feature of something perceived that triggers a particular response.

Verb

  1. To give a cue to; to prompt.
  2. To set a recording or a piece of equipment to play from a chosen point; cue up.

Word family

  • cue card

cue2 stick

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1731, Colley Cibber
Borrowed from
French queue
Ultimate origin
Latin cauda
Etymology tree of cue2
inherited borrowed derived
French queue
English cue

Etymology

It is a variant spelling of queue,[1][2][3][4][6] borrowed from French queue (“tail”), inherited from Old French cue, also coe,[1][9][8] inherited from Latin cōda, a variant of cauda (“tail”).[2][8][11][14] The billiard cue was perhaps named after its narrow, leather-tipped end, the tail.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A long plait of hair worn hanging down behind, a pigtail: 1731, in an epilogue by Colley Cibber.[1][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense of the long tapering rod used to strike the ball in billiards is first recorded in 1749,[1][3][2] and cue-ball by 1881.[2] The verb meaning to twist hair into a cue is from 1774.[1] Johnson (1755) gave as the first sense the tail or end of anything, "as the long curl of a wig".[13] The humorous use for an animal's tail dates from 1862, in Lowell.[1] The pigtail sense is now usually spelled queue, which also took the meaning of a line of people waiting.[1][2]

Timeline

  • 1731 – a pigtail.[1][3]
  • 1749 – a billiard cue.[1][3]
  • 1774 – verb, to twist hair into a cue.[1]
  • 1862 – (humorous) an animal's tail.[1]
  • 1881 – cue-ball.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A long, tapering, leather-tipped rod used to strike the ball in billiards, snooker and pool.
  2. (dated) A queue or pigtail.

Verb

  1. To strike a ball with a cue.

Word family

  • cue ball

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  11. ^ a b Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Cue.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/cue. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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