*kwēniz

Runic: ᚲᚹᛖᚾᛁᛉ Pronunciation: /ˈkʷɛː.niz/

noun · feminine · i-stem

Meanings

wife

Etymology

From an i-stem derivative of Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn f (‘woman’). Kroonen conjectures that it may be the nominalisation of a vr̥ddhi-gerundive of an otherwise unsupported *kwenan- < *gʷén-e- verb which would be "to marry". He cites the predominance of the "wife" meaning, as opposed to the more direct descendent *kwenǭ (‘woman’) and a similar formation in Sanskrit भर॑ति (bhárati) (bhárati, ‘to bear’) giving भार्या (bhāryā).

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.kwēnizkwēnīz
Acc.kwēnįkwēninz
Gen.kwēnīzkwēnijǫ̂
Dat.kwēnīkwēnimaz
Inst.kwēnīkwēnimiz
Voc.kwēnikwēnīz

Find a form

Descendants

  • *kwāni (Proto-West Germanic)
    • cwēn, cwǣn, cuēn, cwœ̄n, cœ̄n (Old English)
      • quene, qwene, cwene, queene, quen, qween, qweene, queyne, qwenne, qwhene, kuene, quiene, queen (Middle English)
        • queen (English)
        • queen, wheen (Scots)
        • queen (Yola)
  • *kwāni (Proto-West Germanic)
    • quān (Old Saxon)
      • quêne, kôn (Middle Low German)
  • kvæn (Old Norse)
    • kván, kvon, kvæn (Icelandic)
    • kvån (Norwegian)
    • -qvæn, broþorqvæn, sonaqvæn (Old Swedish)
  • kván (Old Norse)
    • kván, kvon, kvæn (Icelandic)
    • kvån (Norwegian)
    • -qvæn, broþorqvæn, sonaqvæn (Old Swedish)
  • 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃 (qēns) (Gothic)

Explore/search these descendants

View on Wiktionary