reine French · revision 15943

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la rēx}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁɛn/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /ʁɛːn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''reine''' ''f'' (plural reines, masculine roi)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|reïne]] (three syllables) in the West, [[m|fro|roïne]] in the centre, after ''roi''; two syllables from the 14th century; in the 16th century ''reine'' and ''roine'' were both heard.^(Littré 1873) Académie 1694: ''reine'', ''reyne''.^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|reïne]], [[inh|la|rēgīna|t=queen]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|10, 210b) the feminine of [[la|rēx|t=king]] (see [[roi]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The modern pronunciation comes from the West.^(Littré 1873) Middle French also had the learned “regine” (1465–1512).^(TLFi)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|regina]], [[pro|reina]], [[ca|reina]], [[es|reina]] and [[pt|rainha]].^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''reïne Bramimonde'', the wife of King Marsile.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1160 (''Eneas'') it named a woman ruling in her own right.^(TLFi) Wace (about 1145) calls the Virgin ''reïne'', later ''reine du ciel'', ''reine des anges'' (Marot).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From the 13th century it was said of what dominates (''la coutume, royne et emperiere du monde'', Montaigne), and, from 1531 of a woman who outshines the others, as in the 20th-century ''reine de beauté''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The ''reine de la fève'' of Twelfth Night dates from 1377, the chess queen from about 1380 and the playing card from about 1514.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Reine mère'' is in Du Bellay (1559), ''à la reine'' from 1680 (''bouchée à la reine'', 1845), and ''port de reine'' from 1690.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The queen bee is a ''reine'' from 1751, and the bicycle ''la petite reine'' from 1911.^(TLFi)^(BHVF) In Switzerland a ''reine'' is the cow that leads the herd after winning the fights of the alpine pastures.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Reïne'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1145 – The Virgin, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – A queen regnant, in ''Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1377 – ''Royne de la fevre''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1380 – The chess queen.^(TLFi)

+ * 1559 – ''Royne mère'' in Du Bellay.^(TLFi)

+ * 1655 – ''Reine-des-prés''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1751 – The queen bee.^(TLFi)

+ * 1911 – ''La petite reine''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|queen]]: the wife of a king; a woman ruling a kingdom: ''la reine d'Angleterre'', ''reine mère''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # A woman who dominates or excels: ''la reine de la soirée'', ''reine de beauté''.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # What prevails: ''ici l'ironie est reine''.^(Larousse)

+ # ''(chess, cards)'' The queen.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(zoology)'' The queen (of bees, ants, termites).^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''La petite reine'': the bicycle, ''bouchée à la reine'': vol-au-vent, ''la reine du ciel'': the Virgin Mary.^(BHVF)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(Switzerland)'' The leading cow of a herd.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vice-reine]]

+ * [[reine-claude]]

+ * [[reine-des-prés]]

+ * [[reine-marguerite]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[roi]]

+ * [[régner]]

+ * [[la|rēgīna]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}