queen been.
/ˌkwiːn ˈbiː/, U.S. /ˌkwin ˈbi/ 1. The single reproductive female in a colony of social bees, esp. honeybees.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > queen bee
kinga1398
rectora1398
king bee1565
master bee1579
prince1609
queen1609
queen bee1609
queen mother1753
mother queen1817
1609 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie i. sig. A3 The Q [u] eene-bee is a Bee of a comely and stately shape.
1712 J. Warder True Amazons 72 Every Swarm hath a Queen-Bee among them.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Queen-bee, a term given by late writers to what used to be called the king-bee.
1772 Brit. Mag. & Gen. Rev. Feb. 145/2 M. Reaumur..persuaded the world, that the queen bee was the only breeder in the hive.
1831 W. Howitt Bk. Seasons 144 The queen-bee alights..and the rest of the bees clustering..about her, form a living, brown, dependent cone.
1870 Nature 19 May 53/2 The queen-bee can be fertilised within the hive.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xiii. 252 It depends on the pose of the queen-bee's body whether the egg she lays in a particular cell is fertilized or not.
1955 Sci. Amer. Aug. 52/2 Each colony is headed by a big fertile female, or queen bee, which lays all the eggs for reproduction.
2003 N. al-Radi Baghdad Diaries (new ed.) 104 He said..that it was about the time when queen bees emerge to make a new hive.
2. Also with capital initial. The chief or dominant woman in an organization or social group; (Military) the officer in charge of a women's unit or detachment, esp. in the W.A.A.F.In early use frequently in extended metaphors.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > [noun] > those in authority > person in authority > woman
ladyeOE
mistressa1375
goodwifea1533
forewoman1709
padrona1744
queen bee1790
bibi1816
the Mrs1821
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > one who is important > one who has leading position or is most important
firstc1275
coba1420
principalsa1425
cock1542
chief1569
colossus1605
primore1625
cape1650
sachem1684
leading light1707
high priest1737
king bee1792
gentleman, man of lead1793
queen bee1823
primo basso1826
spokesman1828
protagonist1837
kingpin1861
key man1895
headliner1896
big boy1921
numero uno1944
godfather1963
1780 S. Lee Chapter of Accidents 6 He could not endure to see her flying about, like the queen-bee with the whole hive at her heels.]
1790 T. Wilkinson Mem. Own Life I. 105 When I went into the green-room, an universal laugh of contempt ensued—Woffington, the queen bee of the hive, was there—I had disturbed and offended her Majesty; and therefore all her faithful servants, bee-like, joined to sting me.
1807 R. Southey Lett. from Eng. II. xxx. 41 Wherever one of the queen bees of fashion alights, a whole swarm follows her.
1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XIII xiii. 61 Sweet Adeline, amidst the gay world's hum, Was the Queen-Bee.
1827 C. A. Eaton Vittoria Colonna iv. 78 The queen-bee of Roman society, at the period we speak of, was the Princess of Santa Croce.
1874 L. C. Moulton Some Women's Hearts ii. 18 You must do something as well as the rest, if you want your dinner. Kate is Queen bee, and she won't allow any drones in the hive.
1913 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 15 June 4 f Skirving had the idea that Beryl was the queen bee of all elocutionists.
1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson It's a Piece of Cake 50 The Queen Bee, the Director of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force; or the senior W.A.A.F. officer on a station.
1956 N. Streatfeild Judith i. 44 Beatrice became a queen bee in London's civil defence force.
1960 P. Stanton Village of Stars 63 She walked into the W.R.A.F. sitting-room... There was a little radio in the corner... The Queen Bee had no doubt been wangling the Comforts Fund.
1973 G. Bromley Chance to Poison v. 79 She's a very dominating character..Queen Bee of the Women's Institute—without her it would collapse.
2006 J. Garbarino See Jane Hit v. 125 She belittled me in front of the watching crowd, forcing me into verbal submission that she was the queen bee and that I was to do as told.
3. Military. Usually with capital initial. A remote-controlled aeroplane used as a target in firing practice. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > drill or training > [noun] > weapon-training > firing practice > target
target-ship1901
queen bee1935
1935 Times 26 June 16/6 In the case of the R.A.F. machine, officially named the Queen Bee, the system has proved remarkably successful, and the aeroplane can be made to perform all normal and most of the aerobatic manoeuvres.
1935 Sun (Baltimore) 18 July 2/6 King George today saw the British fleet repel an attack by robot planes. The feature of the war game was the fight between the new aircraft guns on the battleship and the radio-controlled ‘queen bee’ flying machines.
1938 Times 26 Aug. 11/1 ‘Queen Bees’—pilotless, wireless controlled target machines—were only available at two of the..camps.
1949 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 53 410/2 Although the flying bomb project was pigeon-holed, out of this early work the Mark 1A Auto-pilot and the Queen Bee target aeroplane emerged.
1978 R. V. Jones Most Secret War xxxix. 356 We had in fact evolved our own ‘Queen Bee’ remote controlled aeroplane for use as an anti-aircraft target in the years before the war.
1995 C. J. M. Goulter Forgotten Offensive iii. 83 The most serious weakness was the ‘Queen Bee’ target's maximum speed of 80 miles per hour.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1609