fairy queenn.
/ˌfɛːrɪ ˈkwiːn/, U.S. /ˈˌfɛri ˈkwin/ A queen of the fairies. Also: an actor who takes the role of the fairy queen in a play or pantomime; the role itself. Cf. faerie queen n. at faerie n. and adj. Compounds 2.Sometimes named Titania, after the character in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, or Mab, after a reference in Romeo and Juliet.
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a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 133 His mother was ane farie queyne, Gottin be sossery.
1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos vii. sig. S.iv Nimphes, & fairie quenes, & fludds onknowne he sought of grace.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 8 I serue the Fairy Queene . View more context for this quotation
1650 L. Lawrence Epithalamium 7 The Fairie Queen Was in her night cloaths n'er so pretty seen.
1718 T. Purney Chevalier de St. George i. 5 Fairy Queens draw Circles o're the Dew.
1766 J. Cunningham Poems 45 Far beyond the bounds of meaning, Fancy flies, a fairy queen!
1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab i. 4 The chariot of the Fairy Queen.
1891 Poet Lore Jan. 185 The name of Titania may have been derived from Ovid's ‘Metamorphoses’, as the fairy queen usually went by the name of ‘Queen Mab’ in Shakespeare's time.
1899 G. B. Shaw Let. 12 Oct. in J. Dunbar Mrs. G. B. S. (1963) xi. 187 Poor Moony Silly grinned like a fairy queen in a fifth rate pantomime.
1904 Sat. Rev. 14 May 620/2 In the seventies pantomime was flourishing still. Demon King and Fairy Queen..were familiar and popular things.
1989 A. Tan Joy Luck Club 284 They were..looking like little fairy queens waiting for their sedan to arrive.
2011 A. L. Malin Shattered Peace 241 The Fairy Queen lifted her wand.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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